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LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  18Q4. 
^Accessions  No.^Jl^/l^  .      Class  No. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/earnestmansketchOOconarich 


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A  Xabo™  or  A<} 


H     18ON     HOUSE. 

PHILLIPS,  SAMPSON  A.  COMPANY. 
1856. 


THE  EARNEST  MAN. 


A   SK] 


CHARACTER    A  N.D     LABORS 


ADONIRAM    JUDSON 


N  *R1      TO     BCltMAFT. 


MRS.    II.    C.    CO 
II 


rU*l 


'X: 

PHILLIPS,  COMPANY. 

I  VN  k  CO. 

1850. 


3  V$z.7f 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856,  by 
Phillips,  Sampson,  and  Compa>y,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the 
District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


•TO 
THE   ORPHAN   CHILDREN   OF 

ADONIRAM    JUDSON, 

ADONIRAM,     ABBT     ANN,     ELNATHAN, 

HENRY,     EDWARD, 

EMILY    FRANCES, 

TniS   SKETCH 

OF   THEIR   FATHER'S   CHARACTER    AND   LABORS 

IS   AFFECTIONATELY  INSCRIBED 

BY  THE    AUTHOR. 


Of  XHl^^S 

PREFACE. 


"While  Dr.  Wayland's  Memoir  of  Dr.  Judson  was  yet  in 
preparation,  a  "briefer  history  of  his  life  and  labors,  to  meet 
the  wants  of  a  large  class  of  readers,  was  planned  by  Mrs. 
Judson.  This  work,  which,  from  her  graceful  and  vivacious 
pen,  would  have  had  a  double  value  to  the  Christian  public, 
her  declining  health  did  not  allow  her  to  execute,  nor,  so  far 
as  I  know,  even  to  commence.  Near  the  close  of  her  life, 
application  was  made  to  the  writer,  by  her  executors,  to 
perform  the  task  in  her  stead,  with  the  assurance  that  it  was 
with  her  entire  concurrence  and  approbation.  The  present 
volume,  prepared  in  accordance  with  this  request,  is  the 
property  of  Dr.  Judson's  orphan  children ;  to  whom  the 
publishers  generously  relinquish,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Memoir, 
the  larger  share  of  the  profits. 

The  materials  for  this  sketch  are  drawn  chiefly  from  the 
rich  collection  furnished  by  Dr.  Wayland ;  but  every  other 
work  within  reach,  which  could  throw  light  on  the  subject, 
has  been  carefully  examined.     Among  these  are  the  Memoirs 


VI  PREFACE. 

of  the  first  and  second  Mrs.  Judson,  and  of  Boardman  ;  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Magazine ;  GammelPs  History  of  Baptist 
Missions ;  Malcom's  Travels ;  Dr.  Judson's  Letter  to  his 
Father,  1820  ;  Tracy's  History  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.;  Me- 
moirs of  Rev.  Dr.  Worcester,  by  his  son. 

It  was  with  hesitation  that  the  task  was  assumed,  of  por- 
traying the  character  of  one,  who  may  justly  be  ranked 
among  the  most  remarkable  men  of  modern  times.  So  far 
as  the  deepest  sympathy  with  the  theme,  and  the  conscien- 
tious endeavor  to  exhibit  it  in  the  light  of  truth  can  avail,  I 
may  hope  not  to  have  been  wholly  unsuccessful.  Imay  add 
that  the  friendship  and  correspondence,  subsisting  for  many 
years  between  the  family  of  Dr.  Judson  and  that  of  my 
father,  had  given  me  a  more  vivid  impression  of  his  peculiar 
characteristics,  and  at  some  points  a  clearer  insight  into  his 
mental  history,  than  could  have  been  otherwise  obtained.  I 
cannot  hope  to  have  touched  every  aspect  of  his  many-sided 
character ;  but  the  substantial  accuracy  of  the  portraiture, 
so  far  as  it  goes,  will  be  found,  I  trust,  to  stand  the  test  of 
examination. 

The  opinions  of  Dr.  Judson,  on  topics  of  interest  connected 
with  the  missionary  work,  have  been  gleaned  with  great 
pains  from  his  letters,  journals,  and  public  addresses,  and  to 
the  writer's  best  ability,  presented  in  their  proper  relation  to 
one  another.  No  view,  it  is  believed,  will  be  found  ascribed 
to  him,  which  is  not  fully  sustained  by  his  own  words. 

H.  C.  C. 

Rochester,  Nov.  1855. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  I. 


Childhood. 


CHAPTER   II. 
College  Life 20 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Returning  Wanderer 27 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Conversion  and  Self-Consecration 37 

CHAPTER   V. 
How  shall  they  Preach,  except  they  be  sent 48 

CHAPTER    VI. 
The  Door  Opened 62 

CHAPTER   VII. 
Choice  of  a  Wife 77 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Ordination.     Voyage.     Change  of  Views  on  Baptism. . .  85 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Persecutions  by  the  East  India  Company. 104 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Adopted  Country 120 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Buddhism 134 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Language 149 


Vlll  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Missionary    Spirit  among  American   Baptists.     Vicissi- 
tudes of  the  Mission 166 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Zayat 185 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Zayat  Journal  Continued 208 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Visit  to  the  Emperor 225 

• 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Native  Church 244 

CHAPTER  XVIH. 
Sufferings  at  Ava 282 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Desolated  Home 329 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Peculiar  Phase  of  the  Religious  Life 345 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Missionary  Labors  in  Prome  and  Rangoon 362 

CHAPTER  XXH. 
Preaching  Tours  in  the  Jungles 393 

CHAPTER  XXHI. 
Labors  of  the  Study 423 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 
Missionary  Policy 440 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
Visit  to  America.     Labors  on  his  Return 465 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
Closing  Scenes  of  his  Life 483 


THE  EAKNEST  MAN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CHILDHOOD. 


Adoniram  Jddson  was  born  in  the  town  of  Maiden, 
Massachusetts,  on  the  9th  of  August,  1788.  His  father 
was  a  Congregational  minister,  of  respectable  talents 
and  theological  attainments,  and  of  great  moral  worth. 
A  still  nobler  distinction,  at  that  time  of  general  spirit- 
ual coldness  and  decay  among  the  churches  of  "the 
standing  order,"  was  his  deep  and  consistent  piety.  He 
had,  indeed,  all  the  unquestioning  self-reliance,  inflexi- 
bility of  will,  and  somewhat  magisterial  disposition  to 
enforce  rather  than  persuade  in  matters  of  opinion, 
then  so  characteristic  of  his  class ;  but  with  this  was 
associated  a  genuine  excellence,  and  a  certain  Roman 
loftiness  of  nature,  well  fitted  to  command  the  reverence 
of  the  ardent  and  discerning  boy. 


10  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

The  mother,  also,  was  a  person  of  great  domestic  and 
Christian  excellence,  a  matron  of  the  true  New  Eng- 
land type.  It  was  doubtless  to  her  careful  training 
that  he  owed  those  habits  of  order  and  personal  neat- 
ness, carried  even  to  the  point  of  womanly  nicety  and 
exactness,  by  which  he  proved  that  attention  to  the 
minor  virtues  is  not  incompatible  with  greatness.  From 
her,  probably,  he  inherited  that  warmth  and  exquisite 
tenderness  of  heart,  so  beautifully  tempering  the  native 
self-confidence  and  force  of  will,  in  which  he  strongly 
resembled  his  father. 

As  their  first-born,  and  a  child  of  unusual  promise, 
young  Judson  seems  to  have  been  not  only  an  object 
of  peculiar  fondness  to  his  parents,  but  of  the  proudest 
anticipation  of  what  he  was  to  become  in  future  life. 
His  father  never  concealed  from  the  boy  his  expecta- 
tion of  seeing  him  a  distinguished  man.  The  prophecy, 
no  doubt,  did  its  part  toward  its  own  fulfilment.  For 
though  it  may  well  be  questioned,  whether  the  ambition 
and  pride  of  talent  thus  implanted  in  his  young  mind 
were  not  essentially  unchristian  principles  of  action, 
and  in  the  highest  degree  perilous  to  his  moral  devel- 
opment, yet  it  was  a  stimulus  well  adapted  to  rouse  all 
the  energies  of  the  high-spirited  youth.  He  was  bound 
alike  by  his  father's  expectations  and  by  his  own  self- 
esteem  to  attempt  great  things,  and  never  to  fail  in 


CHILDHOOD.  11 

what  he  undertook.  The  habit,  thus  early  formed,  of 
fixing  his  eye  always  upon  a  high  mark,  and  of  con- 
quering all  obstacles  by  concentrated  and  protracted 
effort,  which  made  him  the  leader  among  his  boyish 
mates  and  crowned  his  young  brows  with  their  first 
academic  honors,  doubtless  contributed  its  full  share  to 
the  triumphs  of  the  Christian  hero.  But  in  a  nature  so 
active  and  aspiring,  the  habit  could  have  been  grafted 
on  nobler  instincts  than  pride,  and  selfish,  personal 
ambition.  We  do  not  find  that  it  lost  any  of  its  force, 
when  these  gave  place  to  the  deepest  self-abasement, 
and  love  to  God  became  the  ruling  principle  of  his  life. 
His  natural  constitution  seems  to  have  been  the  hap- 
piest combination  of  opposite  qualities.  The  capacity 
for  serious  and  earnest  pursuit,  and  the  intense  desire 
for  distinction,  were  balanced  by  buoyant  gayety  of 
spirits,  and  a  disposition  unusually  genial  and  affection- 
ate. His  extreme  kindness  to  the  inferior  animals,  and 
his  tenderness  towards  his  younger  sister,  whom  he 
made  his  favorite  companion  and  confidant,  are  traits 
which,  in  a  high-spirited  boy,  always  indicate  a  nature 
of  the  finer  cast.  In  all  his  collegiate  contests  for  liter- 
ary honors,  we  find  in  him  no  trace  of  the  insolence 
or  malignity  so  often  developed  under  like  circum- 
stances. His  college  rival  was  also  his  intimate  and 
endeared  friend.     After  having  dashed  off,  in  the  first 


12  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

transport  of  receiving  the  highest  honors  of  his  class, 
his  veni,  vidi,  vici — ("Dear  Father,  /  have  got  it. 
Your  affec.  son.")  —  we  find  him  taking  a  circuitous 
walk  to  the  post-office  with  his  laconic  letter,  lest  he 
should  betray  his  exultation  to  his  defeated  friend.  It 
must  be  confessed,  however,  that,  magnanimous  as  this 
appears,  the  mortification  of  a  failure  would  have  been, 
to  such  a  spirit,  a  much  truer  test  of  moral  power. 
Had  the  genius  of  his  rival  friend  proved  more  than  a 
match  for  his  best  exertions,  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
his  feelings  towards  him  would  have  been  altogether  so 
amiable.  Yet  it  is  no  small  testimony  to  the  sweetness 
of  his  disposition,  that,  with  his  evident  superiority  and 
unvarying  success  in  college,  he  excited  in  his  associates 
so  warm  a  sentiment  of  personal  affection.  He  had, 
indeed,  the  sensitive  quickness  and  irascibility  of  feel- 
ing inseparable  from  a  highly  organized  temperament, 
flashes  of  which  appeared  occasionally  even  in  the 
ripest  stages  of  his  Christian  life ;  but  it  was,  from  child- 
hood, wholly  unmixed  with  malevolence  or  sullenness. 
In  Dr.  Way  land's  Memoir,  Mrs.  Emily  Judson  has 
given  some  highly  characteristic  reminiscences  of  her 
husband's  childhood  and  youth.  In  the  tendencies  here 
developed,  we  see  the  germs  of  the  future  man.  There 
was  the  same  intense  delight  in  intellectual  action,  the 
same  disposition  to  think  for  himself,  and  to  conquer 


CHILDHOOD.  13 

difficulties  by  his  own  unaided  strength.  Nothing  suited 
him  better  than  an  intellectual  knot  which  nobody  else 
could  untie.  Hence  the  solution  of  hard  riddles  and 
enigmas  was  a  favorite  pastime  of  his  childhood,  by 
which  he  won  great  applause  from  his  schoolfellows 
and  playmates.  Many  a  Christian  parent  would  have 
frowned  on  such  a  waste  of  time.  His  wiser  father  made 
it  the  point  of  connection  for  more  valuable  and  earnest 
studies.  One  incident,  connected  with  this  habit,  fur- 
nishes a  pleasing  illustration  of  the  character  of  both, 
and  of  the  grave  and  patriarchal  dignity  of  a  New 
England  father  of  that  time.  Adoniram  found  one  day, 
in  a  newspaper,  an  enigma  which  challenged  solution 
in  somewhat  boastful  terms  ;  and  having,  by  dint  of 
hard  guessing,  puzzled  it  out  to  his  own  satisfaction,  he 
wrote  out  his  answer,  is  ■  fair  hand,  and  deposited  it  in 
the  post-office,  addressed  to  the  editor  of  the  newspaper. 
The  astute  village  postmaster,  suspecting  danger  in 
the  proceeding,  returned  the  letter  to  his  father,  who 
solemnly  produced  it  the  same  evening  after  tea,  and 
inquired  respecting  its  contents.  "  Please,  father,  read 
it!"  replied  the  boy,  with  a  trepidation  in  which 
mortified  vanity  was  probably  mingled  with  some  anx- 
iety as  to  the  possible  results  ;  for,  in  those  days,  the 
enormity  of  a  transgression  was  often  made  percep- 
tible  to   a  child   by  another   medium  than   his   rea- 


14  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

son.  But  he  need  not  have  feared  in  this  case. 
The  admirable  reply,  —  "I  do  not  read  other  people's 
letters;  break  the  seal  and  read  it  yourself," — by 
which  he  fixed  for  life,  in  his  son's  mind,  a  lesson  of 
honor  and  delicacy,  is  worthy  the  attention  of  all  who 
are  concerned  in  the  management  of  the  young.  Nor 
did  he  deem  the  exhibition  of  mental  character,  fur- 
nished by  the  solution  of  a  riddle,  unworthy  his  attention. 
After  a  careful  comparison  of  the  enigma  and  its  answer, 
he  fell  into  a  long  reverie,  the  termination  of  which 
was  awaited,  with  great  anxiety,  on  the  part  of  his  son. 
He  made  no  further  remark,  however,  and  the  letter 
was  never  again  referred  to.  But  the  next  morning 
the  lad  was  surprised  by  the  gift  of  "  a  book  of  riddles  " 
from  his  father,  with  the  promise  of  another  more  diffi- 
cult when  this  should  have  been  mastered.  The  riddle- 
book  proved,  to  his  great  disappointment,  the  arithmetic 
studied  by  the  older  boys  at  school ;  but  the  words  of 
praise  and  hope,  which  had  accompanied  the  gift,  touched 
and  kindled  the  susceptible  young  heart.  By  his  tenth 
year,  he  had  established  quite  a  little  reputation  as  a 
proficient  in  arithmetic,  extending  even  beyond  the 
bounds  of  his  native  village.  So  much  for  the  "  wisdom 
of  kindness  "  in  the  management  of  children.  Had  the 
study  been  forced  on  him  as  a  task,  his  active  mind 
would  still,  no  doubt,  have  done  it  justice  ;  but  that  all- 


CHILDHOOD.  15 

important  element  of  high  intellectual  success,  the  de- 
light of  voluntary  labor,  would,  so  far,  have  been  en- 
tirely lost. 

His  education  seems  to  have  been  pushed  with  less 
regard  to  his  health  than  to  his  mental  capacity  and 
thirst  for  knowledge.  At  the  age  of  ten,  he  had  made 
considerable  progress  in  the  science  of  navigation,  under 
the  instruction  of  one  Capt.  Moreton.  But  though  he 
excelled  in  whatever  he  undertook,  his  peculiar  aptitude 
was  for  the  study  of  language,  his  future  career  thus 
foreshadowing  itself  in  the  predilections  of  boyhood.  The 
nickname,  *  Old  Virgil  dug  up,"  by  which  he  was  known 
among  his  comrades  at  the  grammar  school,  indicates 
him  as  their  acknowledged  leader  in  this  department. 

But  even  at  tins  early  age,  the  routine  of  school  ex- 
ercises could  not  satisfy  his  cravings  for  knowledge. 
Hi  was  an  insatiable  reader,  and,  as  might  be  expected, 
hi.-  lather's  small  theological  library  did  not  meet  all 
the  wants  of  such  a  mind.  It  seems,  indeed,  that  he 
found  attractive  food  even  among  those  grave  and  solid 
books  of  divinity  ;  but  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  honey 
likewise  sought  among  the  flowers.  All  the  village 
stock  of  romance  and  poetry,  among  the  rest  the  novels 
jf  Fielding  and  Richardson,  and  Ben  Jonson's  plays, 
was  exhausted  in  his  leisure  hours.  One  interesting 
incident,  which  happened  before  he  was  twelve  years 


16  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

old,  shows  with  what  restless  vitality  his  young  mind 
was  putting  out  its  feelers  in  every  direction  of  inquiry. 
The  gorgeous  imagery,  and  mysterious  symbolism  of 
the  Apocalypse,  had  taken  strong  hold  of  his  imagination-; 
no  doubt  its  grand,  shadowy  revelations  answered  to 
yearnings   in  his   nature  which  found  little  response 
in  the  Assembly's  Catechism,  or  his  father's  books  of 
doctrinal  divinity ;    and  he  longed  to   know  what  it 
meant.    One  day,  when  there  were  visitors  at  his  father's 
house,  the  conversation  turned  on  a  new  Exposition  of 
the  Apocalypse,  which  was  thought  to  shed  great  light 
upon  this  dark  portion  of  Scripture,  and  it  was  men- 
tioned that  a  copy  of  the  work  was  in  the  possession  of 
a  gentleman  in  the  neighborhood.     The  silent  boy,  sit- 
ting unnoticed  among  his  grave  seniors,  listened  as  if  to 
tidings  of  some  newly  discovered  treasure.     That  book 
he  must  have, — but  how  obtain  it?     The  owner" was 
a  person  of  stern,  reserved  manners,  such  as  a  child 
would  not  willingly  approach.     It  seems  a  little  strange 
that  he  did  not  seek  his  father's  intervention  ;  perhaps 
he  shrunk,  as  sensitive  children  are  apt  to  do,  from 
betraying  his  deep  interest  to  one  who  might  deem  the 
subject  quite  above  his  comprehension.     After  a  long 
■conflict  with  himself,  he  resolved  to  make  the  attempt 
on  his  own  responsibility.    But  when  his  modest  request, 
for  a  loan  of  the  Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse,  was 


CHILDHOOD.  17 

met  by  a  cold  and  curt  refusal,  the  disappointment  and 
mortification  drove  him  to  confess  the  whole  matter  to 
his  father.  "  Not  lend  it  to  you  !  "  replied  the  proud 
father ;  "  I  wish  he  could  understand  it  half  as  well ! " 
Again  this  thoughtful  guardian  caught  the  hint,  thus 
accidentally  furnished,  of  a  new  stage  in  the  develop- 
ment of  his  son's  mind.  He  saw  that  he  needed  a  wider 
range  of  intellectual  employment,  and  thought  it  worth 
while  to  be  at  the  expense  and  trouble  of  a  journey  to 
Boston,  for  the  express  purpose  of  making  a  selection 
of  instructive  books  for  his  use.  *x 

Karly  in  his  fifteenth  year,  he  had  a  severe  attack  of 
illness,  terminating  in  a  languishing  state  of  health, 
which  laid  him  aside  from  study  for  a  whole  year.  It 
was  not,  however,  a  year  of  mental  inactivity.  Con- 
demned to  bodily  repose,  cut  off  from  occupation  and 
amusement  in  outward  life  and  books,  his  restless  spirit 
turned  all  its  forces  in  upon  himself.  Now,  for  the  first 
time,  he  awoke  into  a  proud,  all-absorbing  self-conscious- 
ness. His  own  intellectual  gifts,  and  the  triumphs  they 
were  to  achieve  in  future  life,  became  the  centre  of  his 
thoughts.  Through  long  days  and  nights  he  lay  upon 
his  couch,  feeding  ambition  with  visions  of  greatness 
and  glory,  such  as  no  mortal  had  yet  won.  Now  he 
was  a  second  Homer,  thrilling  a  nation  with  his  heroic 
lays ;  now  a  statesman,  guiding,  with  steady  hand,  the 
2 


18  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

destinies  of  his  country ;  but  whatever  might  be  the 
dream  of  the  moment,  its  nucleus  was  ever  his  own 
preeminent  greatness. 

With  his  religious  training,  it  could  not  be,  but  that 
these  self-pleasing  imaginations  should  be  occasionally 
disturbed  by  reflections  of  an  opposite  character.  How- 
ever brilliant  his  career,  would  not  death  put  a  speedy 
and  a  final  end  to  it  all  ?  Could  he  satisfy  himself 
with  being  merely  an  immortal  memory  ?  His  thoughts 
then  turned  to  the  clerical  profession.  Was  there  not 
here  a  path,  he  asked,  in  which  one  might  win  an 
enviable  fame  on  earth,  and  insure  its  perpetuity  in 
the  life  beyond  ?  The  moral  sublimity  of  the  calling,  as 
connected  with  the  highest  interests  of  humanity,  grew 
upon  his  thoughts.  Yes  ;  here  was  honor  worth  possess- 
ing,—  noble,  in  itself,  and  noble  induration.  But  the 
beautiful  fabric  dissolved,  as  by  a  flash  of  lightning, 
when  suddenly  there  idarted  into  his  mind  that  grand 
ascription  of  the  Psalmist,  to  which  only  the  Christian 
heart  can  say  Amen  :  "  Not  unto  us,  0  Lord,  not  unto 
us,  but  unto  thy  name  give  glory  ! "  Ah  !  he  felt 
in  his  inmost  heart,  though  he  dared  not  confess  it  even 
to  himself,  that  here  was  a  principle  from  which  he 
turned  with  loathing.  He  could  not  thus  cast  his  own 
glory  at  the  feet  of  his  Creator.  The  unpleasant  sub- 
ject was  therefore  dismissed  with  the  determination 


CHILDHOOD.  19 

that,  whatever  else  happened,  he  must  fulfil  his  father's 
prophecy,  and  become  a  great  and  distinguished  man. 

Is  there  not  something  fearful  in  this  exhibition  of  a 
human  soul,  even  in  the  so-called  innocent  and  irre- 
sponsible days  of  early  youth !  What  a  battle-ground 
of  opposing  powers !  "What  thoughts  "  that  wander 
through  eternity ! "  Who  shall  say  that  the  child  is 
incapable  of  estimating  moral  distinctions,  and  of  making 
for  himself  an  intelligent  decision  between  good  and 
evil  ?  How  many  such  a  spiritual  conflict,  over  whose 
issues  angels  smile  or  weep,  is  settled  in  the  bosoms  of 
our  children,  while  we  are  delaying  their  religious 
culture  till  they  shall  come  "  to  years  of  discretion." 
la  the  case  of  this  highly  gifted  youth,  the  conflict,  at 
hBftfJ  lor  this  time,  had  taken  a  fatal  turn.  The  claims 
of  religion  had  been  clearly  seen  to  be  incompatible 
with  the  worship  of  Self,  —  and  self  had  won  the  day. 

How  little  the  pious  father  guessed  at  what  was  going 
on  in  the  mind  of  his  son!  How  little,  had  he  known 
it,  would  he  have  Mispeeted,  that  his  own  hand  haoT 
helped  to  fan  the  spark  of  ambition  into  that  consuming 
flame !  It  was  a  sad  moral  preparation  to  take  into 
the  dangers  and  temptations  of  college  life.  Thte  self- 
idolatry  was  the  full-swollen  germ,  which  needed  but  a 
congenial  atmosphere  to  develop  into  conscious  and 
avowed  skepticism. 


CHAPTER  H. 

COLLEGE    LIFE. 

On  recovering  his  health,  towards  the  close  of  his 
fifteenth  year,  young  Judson  resumed  his  studies  with 
fresh  ardor.  Having  completed  the  requisite  prepara- 
tion, previous  to  his  illness,  he  immediately  entered 
Brown  University  ;  and,  although  under  the  disadvan- 
tage of  being  behind  his  class,  his  unflagging  diligence 
soon  placed  him  in  the  foremost  rank.  This  position, 
once  gained,  he  never  lost. 

As  a  student,  his  example  offers,  in  several  respects, 
an  instructive  lesson  to  young  men.  Though  speedily 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  minds  in  college, 
and  as  we  have  seen,  fully  conscious  of  his  own  superi- 
ority, he  was  as  punctilious  in  every  college  duty,  as 
anxious  never  to  fail  in  recitation,  as  if  all  his  hopes  of 
success  had  rested  on  mere  correctness  of  deportment 
and  plodding  industry.  Nor  did  he  ever  seem  to  imag- 
ine, that  genius  could  strike  out  any  more  direct  path 
to  knowledge,  than  the  old  beaten  road  of  hard  study. 


COLLEGE    LIFE.  21 

Genius,  with  him,  was  the  power  of  working  out  suc- 
cess, not  of  flying  or  leaping  to  it.  He  knew  nothing  of 
those  inspirations  and  intuitions,  by  which  some  hope 
to  arrive  at  knowledge ;  but  he  could  fasten  his  mind 
on  a  given  theme,  with  a  resolute  tenacity,  which  never 
yielded  till  the  task  was  mastered.  He  had  indeed,  in 
a  high  degree,  that  healthful  love  of  work,  which  is  an 
unfailing  characteristic  of  minds  of  the  first  order. 
Slotlifulness  was  so  abhorrent  to  his  nature,  that  he 
would  have  despised  a  success  not  sweetened  by  previ- 
ous toil.  The  elevation  df  his  aims,  moreover,  though 
purely  worldly,  raised  him  above  those  petty  tempta- 
tions of  vanity,  by  whieh  so  many  young  men  of  ready 
talent  lose  nearly  all  the  benefit  of  a  course  of  study. 
One  who  was  bent  on  doing  some  great  work  in  life,  of 
playing  no  mean  part  in  the  coming  age,  could  not  neg- 
lect the  necessary  preparation,  for  the  sake  of  being 
hailed  as  "  a  glorious  fellow  "  in  the  club-room,  or  of 
astonishing  undergraduates  by  displays  of  florid  elo- 
quence. 

The  spirit  of  study  seems  to  have  been  somewhat 
high  in  the  University  at  this  period,  at  least  among 
those  who  were  contending  for  the  much-coveted  prize 
of  college  honors.  As  a  general  thing,  it  may  be  said 
that  college  life  then  represented  the  choicer  minds  of 
the  rising  generation,  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  at 


22  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

present.  There  were  more  of  those  who  could  conquer 
destiny  in  their  craving  after  a  liberal  education  ;  more 
whose  lamps  went  not  out  by  night,  and  who  counted 
not  their  life  dear  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge.  The 
literary  advantages  then  offered  at  Providence,  were 
limited  in  comparison  with  those  enjoyed  by  its  students 
of  the  present  day ;  yet  through  that  generous  intel- 
lectual enthusiasm,  and  manly  earnestness  of  purpose, 
which  he  possessed  in  common  with  many  others,  young 
Judson  bore  from  his  Alma  Mater  a  thoroughly  disci- 
plined and  richly  furnished  mind.  His  classical  at- 
tainments, especially,  were  of  the  very  first  order,  and 
excited  in  his  instructors  high  anticipations  of  what  he 
might  accomplish  in  the  field  of  linguistic  research. 
It  appears  also,  that  while  in  college,  or  during  the  year 
succeeding  his  graduation,  he  made  such  proficiency  in 
the  Hebrew  language,  as  to  fit  him  for  entering  the 
Seminary  at  Andover,  a  year  in  advance ;  a  fact  which, 
considering  his  worldly  character  and  aims  at  the  time, 
furnishes  a  striking  indication  of  the  bent  of  his  mind. 

So  far  as  human  culture  was  concerned,  he  had  fully 
satisfied  his  father's  wishes.  An  elegant  scholar  and 
writer,  an  acute  thinker,  a  ready,  graceful,  and  impres- 
sive speaker,  his  brilliant  success  in  life  seemed  sure,  in 
whatever  path  he  might  choose  to  seek  it. 

But  the  moral  and  religious  influence  of  his  college  life 


COLLEGE    LIFE.  23 

had  been  far  less  favorable.  Infidelity  was  the  fashion 
with  young  America  of  that  day,  and  found  its  rankest 
growth  in  the  seminaries  of  liberal  learning.  Nor  i9 
this  so  strange,  when  it  is  considered  to  what  a  degree 
Freeth inking  in  religion  had  then  linked  itself  with  the 
principles  of  political  liberty.  The  political  and  relig- 
ious writings  of  Thomas  Paine,  and  other  deists  of  the 
eighteenth  century  were  then  at  the  height  of  their 
ascendency,  and  had  taken  the  young  at  once  on  their 
noblest  and  on  their  weakest  side.  There  was  some- 
thing so  grand,  so  captivating  in  this  idea  of  a  new  age 
-on,  in  which  universal  freedom  was  to  be  ushered 
in  by  emancipation  from  all  the  old  restraints  of  priest- 
craft and  superstition !  It  was  so  pleasant  to  feel  that 
they  themselves  were  no  longer  children,  to  be  fright- 
ened by  bugbears  and  old  wives'  fables !  The  very 
boldness  with  which  they  were  taught  to  lay  their 
hands  upon  that  ancient  Book,  whose  warnings  had  so 
often  crossed  the  track  of  youthful  passion,  and  pointed 
the  stings  of  conscience,  brought  an  exulting  sense  of 
manly  power  and  freedom.  It  was  a  dark  hour  in 
the  national  life.  A  pestilential  atmosphere  overhung 
our  seats  of  learning.  It  seemed  as  if  all  the  educated 
talent  of  the  country  were  about  being  swept  into  the 
ranks  of  impiety  and  irreligion.  When,  in  the  year 
1795,  Dr.  Dwight  entered  on  the  presidency  of  Yale 


24  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

College,  he  found  almost  the  entire  body  of  students 
the  avowed  adherents  of  infidelity.  It  is  mentioned  by 
his  biographer,  as  an  indication  of  the  spirit  of  the  time, 
that  several  members  of  the  class,  which  first  came 
under  his  instruction,  had  adopted  the  names  of  the 
principal  French  and  English  skeptics,  and  were  more 
familiarly  known  by  them  in  college  than  by  their  own. 

Great  was  the  need,  at  such  a  period,  in  all  our 
colleges,  of  that  power  of  earnest,  vital  piety,  by  which 
Dwight  so  soon  exorcised  the  unclean  spirit,  and  drove 
it  forth,  in  shame  and  derision,  from  halls  founded 
by  the  benefactions  and  consecrated  by  the  prayers  of 
God's  people.  Unhappily,  Brown  University  presented, 
in  this  respect,  a  wide  contrast  to  its  present  condition. 
Its  inmates  received  little  aid,  in  regard  to  their  most 
important  interests,  from  their  academic  guardians. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  is  no  matter  of  surprise 
that  one  so  young  and  inexperienced  as  Judson,  should 
have  been  dazzled  by  the  sophisms  of  the  new  philosophy, 
and  learned  to  smile  at  the  narrow  prejudices  of  his 
education.  The  state  of  mind  which  he  had  brought 
to  college  helped  to  betray  him  into  the  snare.  The 
skepticism  of  the  heart  had  already  prepared  the  way 
for  that  of  the  head.  The  distinct  perception,  derived 
from  his  personal  consciousness,  that  the  claims  of  God, 
as  set  forth  in  the  Bible,  were  at  war  with  his  dearest 


COLLEGE    LIFE.  25 

plafis  and  hopes  in  life,  would  easily  merge  into  the 
conviction  that  the  Bible  was  itself  a  cheat. 

The  tempter  came,  moreover,  in  the  guise  best 
adapted   to  lull  suspicion.     In   the   class  next  above 

Judson,  was  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  E ,  to  whom 

he  was  drawn  by  the  strongest  affinity  of  tastes,  and  who 
admitted  him,  though  of  inferior  college  rank,  to  his 
closest  intimacy.  Genius,  wit,  literary  culture,  a  genial 
temper,  fascinating  manners,  all  combined  to  make  him 
an  idol  and  an  oracle  to  his  younger  friend.  It  was 
chiefly  through  his  subtle  arguments  and  graceful 
raillery,  that  Judson  imbibed  the  poison  of  unbelief;  for 
this  brilliant  youth  was  a  confirmed  and  active  deist. 
Perhaps  no  agency  less  insinuating  could  have  so 
entirely  overcome  the  influences  of  early  life.  It  was 
by  hiding  among  flowers,  that  the  wily  se^ent  had 
secured  his  victim.  The  two  friends  were  now  in  all 
ts,  of  one  heart  and  one  soul.  They  often  discussed 
with  each  other  their  plans  for  future  life,  and  each 
promised  himself  and  his  friend  a  long  and  brilliant 
career  on  earth.  To  all  appearance,  they  were  bound 
together  likewise,  in  one  fearful  destiny,  as  respects  the 
life  beyond. 

The  influences  of  his  New  England  home  had,  indeed, 
not  wholly  forsaken  the  misguided  youth.  The  purity 
of   his    manners    remained    uncontaminated.     Though 


26  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

excessively  gay,  and  disposed  to  partake  freely  of  social 
pleasures,  he  seems  to  have  held  aloof  from  every  thing 
gross  and  vicious,  and  to  have  been  guilty  of  nothing 
which  could  cause  a  blush  on  his  mother's  cheek.  But 
when  the  dikes  are  undermined,  must  not  the  over- 
whelming flood  be  near?  When  the  little  bark  is  afloat 
upon  the  downward  tide,  without  rudder  or  pilot,  are 
not  the  black  whirlpools  sure  of  their  prey  ?  Angel 
voices  still  entreat  the  reckless  voyager  from  the  shore  ; 
but  he  calls  back,  with  a  proud  smile :  "  No  danger  !  " 
hoists  his  little  sail  to  the  breeze,  and  hurries  on.  A 
hand  from  above  must  pluck  him  from  the  fatal  current, 
or  he  is  lost  forever  I 


CHAPTER  in. 

THE    RETURNING    WANDERER. 

On  leaving  college,  Judson  returned  to  his  father's 
house  in  Plymouth,  where  he  spent  the  following  year 
as  teacher  of  a  private  school.  He  seems  not  to  have 
fixed  on  a  profession  as  yet;  and  probably  resorted  to 
teaching,  in  order  to  secure  means  for  travelling  and 
seeing  something  more  of  the  world,  before  deciding  that 
important  question.  The  preparation  during  the  same 
year,  in  addition  to  the  labors  of  the  schoolroom,  of  two 
elementary  books,  on  grammar  and  arithmetic,  shows 
with  what  manly  energy,  and  what  habits  of  laborious 
application,  he  was  entering  on  the  career  of  active 
life. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  1808,  the  day  on  which  he  com- 
pleted his  twentieth  year,  he  closed  his  school,  in  order 
to  commence  a  tour  on  horseback  through  the  Northern 
His  departure  from  his  father's  house  was 
marked  by  painful  circumstances.  He  went  not  forth, 
as  formerly,  accompanied  by  the  cheerful  blessing  of 


28  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

his  parents ;  for  he  had  turned  their  fond  hopes  into 
bitter  grief  and  humiliation.  Urged  by  his  natural 
ingenuousness,  or  by  that  pride  of  character  which 
scorned  to  appear  other  than  he  was,  he  had  taken  an 
opportunity,  before  leaving  home,  of  disclosing  his  infidel 
sentiments  to  his  father.  The  blow  seems  to  have  fallen 
on  the  excellent  man  wholly  without  preparation  ;  and 
awoke  all  the  emotions  of  disappointed  pride,  injured 
affection,  and  pious  grief  not  unmixed  with  anger,  which 
might  be  expected  from  his  character.  This  renun- 
ciation of  truths,  inculcated  on  his  son  from  infancy,  and 
clear  to  his  own  mind  as  the  sun  in  heaven,  seemed  to 
him  mere  wilful  perversity,  and  a  reckless  disregard  at 
once  of  filial  and  of  religious  obligation,  which  called 
for  the  sternest  expressions  of  paternal  displeasure.  It 
is  interesting  to  see  the  proof,  afforded  by  this  incident, 
that  whatever  of  worldly  pride  had  mingled  in  this 
Christian  father's  anticipations  of  greatness  for  his  son, 
it  was  of  a  greatness  whose  essence  was  goodness.  He 
had  still  every  reason  to  expect  that  his  son  would 
attain  some  conspicuous  station  in  the  world's  eye  ;  but 
the  moment  which  told  him,  that  the  object  of  his  am- 
bitious love  was  an  apostate  from  his  God,  turned  the 
garnered  hopes  of  twenty  years  to  bitterness  and  anguish. 
Probably,  however,  the  tone  of  authoritative  rebuke  was 
not  the  one  best  adapted,  to  influence  such  a  mind.    The 


THE    RETURNING    WANDERER.  29 

prayer,  in  which  the  father's  heart  poured  itself  out  at 
the  domestic  altar,  on  the  morning  of  his  departure,  the 
look  of  trouble  on  that  father's  countenance,  and  the 
silent  tears  of  his  mother,  as  they  bade  him  farewell, 
were  much  more  dangerous  to  his  new  philosophy.  Its 
armory  furnished  no  defence  against  weapons  like  these. 
Pride,  indeed,  forbade  his  yielding  to  their  influence ; 
but  they  fastened  themselves  in  his  heart,  and  went  with 
him  in  all  his  wanderings.  Thus  they  parted  in  mutual 
pain ;  the  son  to  dissipate  his  uneasiness,  if  he  could,  in 
the  excitement  of  new  scenes  and  pleasures ;  the  parents 
to  weep  and  pray  for  him  in  that  home,  which  his  error 
had  so  unexpectedly  and  so  sadly  darkened. 

After  visiting  several  of  the  New  England  States,  he 
left  his  horse  with  an  uncle,  a  clergyman  in  Sheffield, 
Mass.,  and  proceeded  to  Albany.  Thence  he  took  pas- 
sage for  New  York,  in  the  Fulton  steamer,  then  starting 
on  her  second  trip  down  the  Hudson.  It  was  a  trip 
rich  with  pleasure  to  his  sensitive  and  cultivated  mind. 
The  new  revelation  of  beauty  furnished  by  the  grand 
river  scenery,  comparatively  little  known  at  that  time, 
stamped  itself  upon  his  fancy,  with  a  force  which  all  the 
changes  of  his  subsequent  life  could  not  obliterate.  Even 
in  his  last  illness,  he  recalled  its  features  with  all  the 
enthusiasm  of  recent  enjoyment.  But  the  main  object 
of  his  visit  to  New  York  was  to  "  see  life."    In  further- 


80  THE    EABNEST   MAN. 

ance  of  this  plan,  he  went  by  the  name  of  Johnson,  — 
a  sufficient  indication  how  thoroughly  he  intended  to 
use  his  present  opportunity.  Such  a  curiosity  is  not  to 
be  condemned  in  unqualified  terms.  No  liberal  and 
inquiring  mind  can  be  satisfied  with  knowing  human 
life,  only  as  it  is  presented  on  tfce  fair,  upper  surface 
of  society.  Neither  outward  nature,  nor  books,  open  to 
the  man  of  reflection  a  study  so  profoundly  interesting, 
as  this  great  problem  of  humanity,  under  its  various 
circumstances  and  forms  of  development.  Some  minds 
turn  to  it  by  an  instinct  no  less  strong  than  that  which 
marks  out  others,  from  earliest  boyhood,  as  devotees  of 
science.  It  is  the  natural  direction  of  their  genius. 
They  read  men  as  others  read  books ;  and,  if  right  in 
heart,  draw  from  the  study  lessons  of  higher  import 
than  could  ever  be  educed  by  the  solitary  labors  of  the 
student's  cell.  It  was  from  his  natural,  restless  inquisi- 
tiveness  into  every  object  of  knowledge,  and  especially 
into  human  character,  that  Judson  now  resolved  to  see 
to  the  bottom  of  New  York  society ;  nor  have  we  any 
reason  to  suppose  that  his  change  of  name  had  any 
object  more  criminal  than  protection  against  the  mis- 
apprehensions and  remonstrances  of  anxious  friends. 
But  well  does  he  need  to  be  guarded  by  maturity  in 
virtue,  and  with  pure  Christian  philanthropy  for  his 
leading  motive,  who  ventures  to  search  for  knowledge 


THE    RETURNING   WANDERER.  31 

in  those  dark  and  intricate  paths  of  human  life.  It  is 
a  study  fraught  with  peril  to  youth  and  inexperience. 
It  is  rare,  indeed,  that  some  dark  stain,  to  which  the 
penitent  vainly  cries,  with  after-tears  of  anguish  and 
remorse :  "  Out,  damned  spot ! "  some  remembrance 
"  that  stings  forevrrmpre,"  must  not  be  numbered  among 
the  fruits  of  this  "  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil." 
Tlint  pride  of  character,  on  which  our  young  adventurer 
relied  as  his  sole  defence  in  these  untried  dangers,  would 
no  doubt  have  soon  proved  its  weakness,  had  not  the 
unseen,  unacknowledged,  contemned  hand  of  Infinite 
Goodness,  guarded  his  bosom  with  a  surer  panoply. 

In  addition  to  the  general  objects  of  this  visit  to  New 
York,  Judson  had  a  special  errand,  —  that  of  acquaint- 
ing himself  thoroughly  with  theatrical  life,  and  the  reg- 
ulations of  the  stage,  in  case  he  should  conclude  to 
adopt  dramatic  authorship  as  his  profession.  For  this 
purpose  he  attached  himself,  for  a  time,  to  a  theatrical 
company,  —  a  connection  which  must  have  furnished 
sufficiently  striking  contrasts  with  his  previous  life. 

But  it  was  with  a  far  different  design  that  this  ad- 
venturous, inquiring,  ardent  spirit  had  been  fashioned 
by  its  Creator.  Not  one  of  its  natural  tendencies  or 
n  but  had  been  bestowed  by  Eternal  Wisdom  ;  not 
one  was  to  be  cast  aside  as  worthless,  in  the  noble 
field  of  Christian  labor.     When  the  love  of  Christ  dis- 


32  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

placed  selfish  ambition,  as  the  ruling  motive  of  his  life, 
he  did  not  turn  with  indifference  from  the  study  of 
human  nature.  He  did  not  withdraw  to  the  inner  world 
of  contemplation,  or  even  devote  himself  to  a  life  of  pious 
labor  with  the  pen.  From  the  moment  when  he  first 
tasted  the  joys  of  a  full  salvation,  his  soul  opened  wide  its 
arms,  all  its  native  energies  and  affections  glowing  with 
new  vitality,  to  embrace  his  Brother-Man.  There  was 
no  question  as  to  the  path  in  which  he  was  to  serve  his 
Redeemer,  none  of  the  usual  conflicts  of  duty  with  in- 
clination. The  whole  strong  current  of  his  nature  flowed 
in  harmony  with  the  Divine  Call.  He  knew,  from  the 
first  dawn  of  his  spiritual  morning,  that  he  was  to  be, 
in  the  Saviour's  sublimely  simple  phrase ;  "  a  fisher  of 
men." 

But  to  return  to  our  narrative,  which  now  approaches 
the  crisis  of  his  whole  history. 

Resolutely  as  he  had  carried  out  his  plan  of  indepen- 
dent action,  and  free,  practical  inquiry  during  this  journey, 
he  had  not  been  able  wholly  to  escape  the  admonitions 
of  conscience.  Though  firmly  maintaining  the  opinions, 
to  which,  as  he  imagined,  he  had  been  led  by  candor 
and  love  of  truth,  he  could  not  forget  that  the  disclosure 
of  them  had  planted  sharp  thorns  in  the  hearts  of  his 
revered  parents.  Their  sorrowful  and  downcast  looks, 
at  parting,  haunted  him  wherever  he  went.     He  seems 


THE   RETURNING  WANDERER.  83 

to  have  been  conscious,  moreover,  that  his  present  mode 
of  life  was  gaining  an  influence  over  him,  which  he  had 
not  anticipated.  So  much,  at  least,  he  confessed  to  him- 
self, that  "  not  for  worlds  would  he  see  a  younger  brother 
in  the  same  situation."  But  he  repelled  such  misgivings 
by  the  thought,  that  he  was  only  satisfying  a  liberal 
curiosity,  and  that  his  self-respect  was  a  sufficient  pro- 
tection against  all  danger. 

From  New  York  he  returned  to  Sheffield  for  his 
horse,  with  the  intention  of  extending  his  journey  in  a 
western  direction.  The  story  of  the  next  two  days  is 
among  the  most  striking  in  the  history  of  religious  con- 
version. At  his  uncle's  he  found  a  young  clergyman, 
who  was  supplying  the  pulpit  in  the  minister's  tem- 
porary absence.  Whether  he  was  aware  of  the  full 
extent  of  Judson's  unbelief,  is  not  mentioned  ;  but  find- 
ing that  he  was  not  a  Christian,  he  took  the  opportunity 
to  urge  upon  him  the  importance  of  personal  religion, 
with  a  tender,  gentle  earnestness,  which  greatly  affected 
him.  Under  this  softening  influence,  he  left  his  uncle's 
house,  and  pursued  his  journey  through  one  day.  The 
solitary  ride  was  favorable  to  the  continuance  of  serious 
feeling ;  and  the  impressions  of  the  morning  were  not 
yet  wholly  dissipated,  when  he  halted,  for  the  night,  at  a 
country  tavern.  As  the  landlord  showed  him  to  his  room, 
he  apologized  for  placing  him  next  door  to  a  young  man, 
3 


34  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

who  he  feared  was  in  a  dying  condition.  With  a  stoi- 
cism which  we  must  believe  was  more  than  half  as- 
sumed, Judson  assured  him,  with  an  expression  of  pity 
for  the  sufferer,  that,  so  far  as  he  was  himself  concerned, 
the  proximity  was  a  matter  of  entire  indifference.  But 
such  philosophy  demands  admiring  witnesses,  and  his 
vanished  in  the  silence  and  darkness  of  his  solitary 
chamber.  He  could  not  sleep.  The  sounds  from  the 
sick  room  fastened  on  his  ear,  and  suggested  the  most 
agitating  reflections.  Was  the  dying  man  prepared  for 
the  change  which  awaited  him  ?  He  blushed,  as  he 
felt  the  prejudices  of  childhood  again  creeping  over 
him.  Prepared !  What  preparation  was  needed  for 
an  eternal  sleep  ?  But  still  the  question  would  return ; 
into  what  scenes  is  his  spirit  about  to  pass  ?  The  land- 
lord had  spoken  of  him  as  a  young  man.  Was  he,  like 
the  faithful  friend  whose  warnings  of  yesterday  were 
yet  fresh  in  his  mind,  a  Christian  :  or,  like  himself,  a 
skeptic,  the  source  of  unutterable  sorrow  and  anxiety  to 
pious  parents  ?  What  were  the  feelings  of  the  dying 
youth,  in  this  testing  hour  ?  —  What  would  be  his  own, 
in  a  like  situation  ?  Suppose  he  were  now  stretched 
on  the  bed  of  death ;  could  he  look  with  philosophic 
calmness  towards  the  final  moment,  sure  that  the  next 
instant  his  soul,  with  all  its  capacities  for  joy  and  sorrow, 
would  have  gone  out  like  an  extinguished  taper  ?   Ah  ! 


THE   RETURNING   WANDERER.  85 

there  was  a  shuddering  in  that  soul,  which  prophesied 
of  a  future,  a  future  of  conscious  bliss  or  woe,  a  future 
of  righteous  retribution ! 

He  tried  to  rouse  himself  from  these  childish  terrors,  by 
recalling  the  arguments  which  once  had  seemed  so  con- 
vincing. He  thought  of  his  deistical  friends,  and  a^ked 
what  they  would  think  of  such  weakness.     Especially 

the  witty  and  sagacious  E ,  his  dearest  friend,  his 

master  in  the  philosophy  of  reason  ;  what  would  he  say  ? 
The  poor  youth  cowered  in  his  bed,  as  he  imagined  the 
pitying  smile  and  the  keen  shafts  of  ridicule,  with  which 
that  firm  mind  would  meet  such  nursery  superstitions. 

But  all  would  not  do ;  and  through  the  whole  night 
his  spirit  was  tossed  upon  a  restless  sea  of  disquietude 
and  doubt.  Daylight  proved  a  much  more  effective 
ally  of  reason.  The  cheerful  dawn  banished  these  mid- 
night spectres,  as  by  a  spell ;  and  the  young  philosopher 
sprang  up,  relieved,  reassured,  and  ready  to  smile  at 
the  tricks,  which  fancy  can  play  the  wisest  in  the  dark. 

On  leaving  his  room,  he  went  immediately  to  the 
landlord,  with  kind  inquiries  after  the  sick  man.  "  He 
is  dead ! "  was  the  reply.  "  Dead ! "  "  Yes,  he  is  gone, 
poor  fellow ;  the  doctor  thought  he  could  not  survive 
the  night."  "Do  you  know  his  name?"  "0  yes; 
he  was  from  Providence  College,  —  a  fine  fellow  ;  his 
name  was  E ." 


36  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

Where  now  was  reason  and  philosophy  ?  Those  few 
words  had  struck  away  their  very  foundations.  Judson 
made  his  way  back  to  his  own  room,  where  he  spent 
several  hours  in  a  state  of  wretchedness,  bordering  on 
stupefaction.  The  words  :  "  Dead  !  Lost !  Lost !  " 
rung  continually  in  his  ears.  He  needed  no  arguments 
to  convince  him,  that  the  doctrine  in  which  he  had  trusted 
was  a  lie.  Every  instinct  of  his  awakened  soul  bore 
witness  that,  after  death,  there  is  a  dread  beyond, 
into  which  his  miserable  friend  had  entered,  and  on 
whose  slippery  brink  he  himself  stood,  just  ready  to 
follow.  When  at  length  he  again  mounted  his  horse, 
it  was  not  to  pursue  his  journey  westward.  Humbled, 
broken-hearted,  almost  despairing,  he  had  said  in  his 
heart :  "  I  will  arise,  and  go  to  my  father  !  "  Filled 
with  indescribable  yearnings  for  the  counsel,  prayers, 
and  tender  sympathy,  which  might  bring  a  healing  balm 
to  his  wounded  spirit,  he  turned  his  horse's  head  towards 
Plymouth,  and,  after  a  most  sorrowful  ride,  presented 
himself,  unexpectedly,  to  his  parents.  The  overwhelm- 
ing surprise,  gratitude,  and  joy,  with  which  they  learned 
the  cause  of  his  return,  and  the  welcome  with  which 
they  met  the  downcast  wanderer,  may  easily  be  imag- 
ined. He  returned  not,  indeed,  as  a  Christian ;  but 
surely  there  was  joy  in  heaven,  as  well  as  on  earth,  over 
that  contrite  sinner,  crushed  under  a  sense  of  guilt,  and 
humbly  inquiring  for  the  way  of  pardon  and  salvation. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CONVERSION,   AND    SELF-CONSECRATION. 

The  mind  of  young  Judson  had  still  a  long  and 
painful  process  to  undergo,  before  it  could  arrive  at 
light  and  peace.  He  had  proved  the  utter  worthless- 
ness  of  his  infidel  philosophy ;  and  that  feeling  of  per- 
sonal sinfulness  and  spiritual  want  had  been  awakened, 
which  is  the  necessary  precursor  of  all  true  inward 
life.  But  the  net  of  sophistry,  in  which  he  had  suffered 
himself  to  be  taken  a  willing  captive,  could  not  be  at 
once  shaken  off;  its  meshes  still  clung  around  him,  and 
impeded  all  his  efforts  to  find  the  truth.  Instead  of 
springing  at  once  into  the  full  liberty  of  the  gospel, 
he  must  begin  at  the  bottom,  and  unwind,  one  by  one, 
with  weary  pains,  the  fallacies  with  which  he  had 
cheated  his  understanding  and  dimmed  his  moral  sense. 
Such  is  the  humiliating  experience  of  many  a  daring, 
speculative  mind,  when  roused  to  a  sense  of  spiritual 
danger.  The  deathlike  sleep  of  sin  is  broken  ;  but  it 
is  like  waking  at  midnight,  in  such  bewildering  dark- 


38  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

ness,  to  such  a  dreary  sense  of  loneliness  and  danger, 
that  one  could  almost  wish  he  had  not  waked.  It  is, 
however,  an  experience  full  of  wholesome  lessons  to 
the  proud  heart.  When  it  has  found,  by  repeated 
trials,  that  the  boasted  light  of  reason,  though  it  may 
attain  to  an  intellectual  conviction  of  the  truth,  leaves 
the  soul  still  a  stranger  and  an  alien  to  the  Source  of 
truth  ;  still  dark,  comfortless,  destitute  of  all  the  joyful 
sensations  and  active  capacities  of  the  spiritual  life ; 
then  it  is  prepared  to  welcome  the  light  wherewith 
God  himself  shines  into  the  heart.  Then  it  is  ready, 
with  full  assent,  to  cry  :  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto 
us,  but  unto  Thy  name  give  glory ! 

It  providentially  occurred  that  Professors  Griffin  and 
Stuart,  of  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  at  this 
time  visited  his  father,  and  were  made  acquainted  with 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  case.  So  deeply 
were  their  Christian  sympathies  moved  in  his  behalf, 
that  they  proposed  his  coming  to  Andover,  and  prose- 
cuting his  inquiries  in  connection  with  the  institution. 
After  some  hesitation,  dictated  probably,  by  the  shrink- 
ing of  his  proud  spirit  from  such  publicity,  he  wisely 
concluded  to  avail  himself  of  the  invitation  so  kindly 
tendered.  On  the  12th  of  October,  1808,  he  removed 
to  Andover,  and  entered,  as  a  special  student,  on  the 
regular  course  of  Theological  study  with  the  Middle 


CONVERSION,   AND    SELF-CONSECRATION.  39 

Class.  By  so  doing,  he  not  only  placed  himself  in  the 
most  favorable  position  for  ascertaining  the  truth,  but 
I  public  pledge  of  earnestness  in  regard  to  his 
personal  salvation.  It  was,  therefore,  a  momentous 
step ;  probably,  at  the  crisis  he  had  now  reached,  the 
deciding  step  in  his  religious  history. 

During  Dr.  Judson's  visit  to  this  country,  it  was  the 
writer's  good  fortune  to  witness  a  highly  interesting 
scene,  which  proves  how  well  he  remembered,  through 
life,  his  debt  of  gratitude  to  Andover.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1846,  when  he  was  at  Hamilton,  N.  Y.,  for  the 
second  time,  it  so  happened  that  the  venerable  Dr. 
Woods  was  there  also,  on  a  visit  to  his  relatives,*  and 
preached  on  Sabbath  morning,  in  the  Baptist  meeting- 
house. Dr.  Judson  sat  by  his  side  in  the  pulpit  j  a 
sight,  in  itself,  full  of  interesting  suggestions  to  those 
who  knew  their  former  relations.  At  the  close  of  the 
excellent  and  characteristic  sermon,  Dr.  Judson  arose, 
and  in  a  brief  address,  referred  with  touching  humility 
and  tenderness  to  the  time,  thirty-eight  years  before, 
when  he  seated  himself  "a poor  blind  skeptic"  at  the 
feet  of  the  venerable  man  to  whom  we  had  just  been 
listening,  and  sought  from  him  instruction  in  the  way 
of  life. 

*  An  older  brother,  the  Rev.  Abel  Woods,  formerly  a  Baptist 
minister  in  Vermont,  was  then  residing,  at  an  advanced  age,  in  Ham- 
ilton. 


40  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

Not  in  vain  had  he  taken  that  position  of  humble 
inquiry.  Light  gradually  but  surely  dawned  upon  his 
soul,  through  successive  weeks  of  earnest,  prayerful 
study ;  till  at  length  he  was  enabled,  with  the  fullest 
consent  of  his  understanding  and  affections,  to  accept 
of  Christ  as  his  Redeemer,  and  to  make  an  unreserved 
dedication  of  himself  to  his  service.  The  public  pro- 
fession of  his  faith  was  made  in  the  following  May, 
when  he  united  himself  with  the  Third  Congregational 
Church  in  Plymouth,  of  which  his  father  was  then 
pastor. 

The  object  for  which  he  had  come  to  Andover  was 
now  attained.  Intelligent  conviction  of  the  truth  of 
Christianity,  based  on  a  searching  examination  of  its 
evidences,  and  a  living,  joyful  experience  of  its  power, 
had  succeeded  to  the  state  of  doubt  and  wretchedness 
which  brought  him  thither.  The  night  of  his  bondage 
had  passed,  the  morning  of  an  eternal  day  was  beam- 
ing in  his  heart.  He  knew  in  himself,  with  the  full 
assurance  of  consciousness,  that  he  had  been  the  sub- 
ject of  a  new  creation ;  that  old  things  were  done 
away  and  all  things  had  become  new ;  that  he  had 
passed  from  death  unto  life.  But  with  this  conscious- 
ness, there  came  not  only  new  joys,  but  new  aims  and 
purposes.  Self  had  been  dethroned.  The  enlarged 
circle  of  his  affections,  with  God  for  its  centre,  em- 


CONVERSION,   AND    SELF-CONSECRATION.  41 

braced  the  whole  family  of  man.  Whatever  he  had 
feared  for  himself,  he  now  feared  for  them  ;  whatever 
he  enjoyed  of  light  and  freedom  and  heavenly  commu- 
nion ;  whatever  he  hoped  for  of  glory  and  bliss,  yet  to 
be  revealed  in  a  divine,  immortal  life  beyond  the  grave, 
he  yearned  to  share  with  them.  These  feelings,  which 
belong  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  to  every  renewed 
soul,  assumed  in  his  case  a  peculiar  intensity  from  his 
character  and  the  circumstances  of  his  conversion.  So 
signal  a  triumph  of  divine  grace  demanded  a  more 
than  ordinary  consecration.  Having  been  forgiven 
much,  he  loved  much.  His  purpose  of  becoming  a 
preacher  of  the  gospel,  developed  itself  as  naturally 
out  of  his  inward  experience,  as  a  flower  unfolds  upon 
a  living  plant.  Without  a  pang,  he  laid  aside  forever 
all  his  ambitious  projects  ;  or  rather,  they  vanished  of 
themselves,  lost  and  forgotten  in  that  stronger,  heaven- 
born  passion,  which  liad  now  taken  possession  of  his 
soul.  A\rith  his  first  spiritual  consciousness,  he  recog- 
nized "  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  "  as  his  destined 
work.  In  June,  1809,  he  received  the  appointment  of 
Tutor  in  Brown  University ;  an  honorable  testimonial 
to  his  talents  and  scholarship,  and  a  fair  opening,  had 
he  been  disposed  to  accept  it,  to  a  career  of  literary 
distinction  and  usefulness.  But  his  heart  was  set  upon 
a  higher  calling,  and  he  declined  the  application. 


42  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

Such  were  his  feelings  and  purposes,  when,  in  the 
following  September,  he  met  with  Buchanan's  "  Star  in 
the  East ;  "  and,  for  the  first  time,  the  idea  of  Foreign 
Missions  took  a  distinct  form  in  his  mind.  The  effect 
was  electrical.  So  strongly  did  the  subject  seize  upon 
his  ardent  soul,  that,  for  several  days,  he  was  unable  to 
attend  to  the  studies  of  his  class.  In  a  sort  of  ecstasy 
of  enthusiasm,  he  spent  his  time,  as  he  has  himself 
related,  "  in  deploring  his  previous  stupidity,  in  depict- 
ing the  most  romantic  scenes  in  missionary  life,  and  in 
roving  about  the  college  rooms,  declaiming  on  the  sub- 
ject of  missions."  If  any  one  is  disposed  to  smile  at 
these  ebullitions  of  excited  feeling,  let  him  remember 
that  Judson  was  then  but  a  youth  of  twenty-one.  But 
there  was  nothing  of  youthful  shallowness  and  insta- 
bility, in  the  enthusiasm  thus  suddenly  enkindled.  Like 
the  first  brilliant  jet,  which  darts  from  a  naphtha  spring 
at  the  igniting  touch,  it  only  gave  token  of  the  generous* 
fountains  of  supply  below.  Extravagant  as.it  might 
seem  to  more  phlegmatic  tempers,  it  had  its  sources  in 
a  depth  of  conviction,  a  richness  of  affections,  a  breadth 
of  vision,  of  which  few  are  capable  ;  and  hence  it  burnt 
on,  undimmed,  to  the  end  of  life.  It  was  the  strength, 
not  the  weakness  of  his  character,  his  power  of  grasp- 
ing a  sublime  Idea,  and  of  living  or  dying  to  actualize 
it,  that  gave  to  the  subject  of  missions  such  a  spell-like 
influence  over  his  mind. 


CONVERSION,    AND    SELF-CONSECRATION.  43 

It  is  a  mistake,  not  unfrequently  made,  that  a  char- 
acter in  which  the  emotional  and  imaginative  element 
is  so  strongly  developed,  must  necessarily  be  defective 
in  sober  practical  judgment.  But  it  is  not  so.  It  is  the 
union  of  the  two,  that  forms  the  world's  earnest  men ; 
the  men  who  undertake  and  execute  the  great  tasks  of 
humanity.*  The  truth  of  this  is  remarkably  exemplified 
in  the  case  of  Judson.  Though  at  the  first  perception 
of  a  noble  object,  his  soul  was  instantly  on  fire,  yet  he 
was  not  rash  or  hasty  in  action.  Young  and  sanguine 
as  he  was  when  his  attention  was  first  fixed  on  foreign 
missions,  it  was  not  till  after  several  months  of  earnest 
inquiry,  reflection,  and  prayer,  that  he  resolved  to  be- 
come himself  a  missionary.  The  account  of  his  decision 
is  best  given  in  his  own  words,  contained  in  a  letter  to  his 
friend  and  former  associate,  Rev.  Luther  Rice.  "  That 
excitement,"  he  remarks,  "  soon  passed  away  ;  but  it  left 
a  strong  desire  to  prosecute  my  inquiries,  and  ascertain 
the  path  of  duty.  It  was  during  a  solitary  walk 
in  the  woods  behind  the  college,  while  meditating  and 
praying  on  the  subject,  and  feeling  half  inclined  to 
give  it  up,  that  the  command  of  Christ,  *  Go  into 
all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature,*  was  presented  to  my  mind  with  such  clear- 
ness and  power,  that  I  came  to  a  full  decision  ;  and 
though    great   difficulties    appeared    in   my   way,   re- 


44  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

solved   to   obey  the   command   at   all   events."     This 
was  in  February,  1810. 

In  the  course  of  his  inquiries,  he  met  with  Col. 
Symmes's  "  Embassy  to  Ava ;  "  and,  from  that  time,  his 
thoughts  centred  upon  Burmah  as  the  part  of  heath- 
endom to  which,  above  all  others,  he  would  choose  to 
carry  the  gospel. 

After  having  thus  decided  the  question  of  duty  in 
his  own  mind,  the  hard  task  remained  of  breaking  the 
matter  to  his  parents.  Times  have  so  greatly  changed 
in  respect  to  foreign  missions  since  then,  both  in  regard 
to  public  feeling  and  to  the  real  practical  difficulties  of 
the  undertaking,  that  we  can  hardly  estimate  the  great- 
ness of  this  trial.  A  Christian  missionary  had  then 
never  left  these  shores  for  a  heathen  land.  There 
was  no  organization  to  which  he  could  look  for  direc- 
tion and  support.  Worse  than  all,  the  missionary  spirit, 
which  now  seems  one  of  the  vital  elements  in  our 
religious  life,  had  then  but  just  begun  to  awaken  in  the 
churches.  Even  in  Andover  itself,  that  seat  of  theologi- 
cal influence,  he  had  found  little  response  to  his  own 
ardent  feelings  on  this  subject.  He  was  aware  that,  in 
the  estimation  of  the  Christian  public  generally,  his 
enterprise  would  seem  but  the  hairbrained  rashness 
of  youth.  He  knew,  too,  how  strongly  his  parents  had 
set  their  hearts  upon  far  different  things  for  him.    How 


CONVERSION,   AND    SELF-CONSECRATION.  45 

could  he  speak  the  cruel  word,  which  was  to  destroy 
their  most  cherished  expectations  ?  How  could  he  tell 
them  that  the  son,  on  whose  reputation  they  had 
counted  as  the  pride  of  their  life,  and  whose  affec- 
tionate care  they  relied  on  as  the  staff  of  their  declining 
years,  was  about  to  abandon  them  forever  ? 

Being  at  home,  in  the  winter  vacation,  he  watched 
for  an  opportunity  of  making  the  painful  communica- 
tion. One  day,  when  none  but  the  family  circle  was 
present,  his  father  began  to  hint  at  certain  brilliant 
prospects  which  awaited  his  son,  as  soon  as  he  should 
have  finished  his  theological  studies.  Adoniram  begged 
his  father  to  explain  what  he  meant,  as  perhaps  his 
own  views  for  the  future  might  not  coincide  with  those 
of  his  parents.  How  was  he  confounded  when  he  heard, 
that  Dr.  Griffin  himself,  then,  by  universal  consent,  the 
first  of  New  England  evangelical  preachers,  and  stand- 
ing at  the  most  distinguished  point  of  influence,  had 
selected  him  as  his  colleague  in  "  the  largest  church  in 
Boston  1  *  Here  was  a  temptation,  which  might  have 
dazzled  a  much  older  head.  Who  could  wonder,  if 
for  a  time  his  heart  had  turned  from  the  life  of  toil 
and  self-denial  among  the  degraded  heathen,  to  so 
flattering  a  prospect  of  distinction,  and  usefulness,  and 
comfort,  in  his  native  land.  But  the  subject  seems 
not  once  to  have  presented  itself  in  this  form  to  his 


46  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

mind.  His  sole  concern  was  the  bitter  disappointment 
to  his  parents.  "  You  will  be  so  near  home  !  "  ex- 
claimed his  fond  mother.  His  heart  seemed  break- 
ing, and  he  was  unable  to  utter  a  word  of  reply.  It 
was  not  till  his  sister  began  to  add  her  congratulations, 
that  he  could  command  his  feelings.  "  No,  sister," 
said  he,  "  I  shall  never  live  in  Boston.  I  have  much 
further  than  that  to  go!"  He  then  proceeded,  in 
faltering  tones,  but  gathering  calmness,  and  soon  kind- 
ling into  enthusiasm  as  he  went  on,  to  unfold  his  plans 
of  life.  His  mother  and  sister  listened  with  many 
tears ;  but  his  father,  from  whom  he  had  expected  the 
strongest  opposition,  said  scarcely  a  word.  Probably 
he  saw  the  hand  of  God  in  the  matter,  and  dared  not 
open  his  lips  against  it. 

It  seems  from  the  foregoing  incident,  that  his  talents 
for  the  pulpit  had  already  made  a  strong  impression  on 
his  instructors.  We  know  that  he  possessed,  to  a  very 
uncommon  degree,  the  qualities  which  form  an  effective 
popular  preacher.  His  mind  was  at  once  logical  and 
impassioned,  his  voice  powerful,  and  his  delivery  full 
of  life  and  fire.  His  sister-in-law,  Miss  Mary  Has- 
seltine,  describes  "his  eloquence  and  oratory"  as  "a 
transcript  of  Dr.  Griffin V  Should  we  not  be  very 
likely,  even  at  this  day,  to  consider  such  peculiar  gifts 
for  usefulness  at  home,  as  in  a  great  measure  thrown 


CONVERSION,   AND    SELF-CONSECRATION.  47 

away  on  a  missionary  to  the  heathen?  Would  not 
many  be  ready  to  exclaim :  "  To  what  purpose  is  this 
waste ! "  With  such  thoughts  might  vanity  and  ambi- 
tion, under  the  mask  of  duty,  have  deluded  his  own 
heart,  had  not  a  voice  —  the  voice  of  One  whom,  he 
loved  better  than  father  and  mother,  yea  than  his  own 
life  or  honor  —  whispered  in  the  depths  of  his  soul: 
"  I  will  send  thee  far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles !  "  The 
event  has  proved  how  narrow  and  short-sighted  is  the 
policy,  which  would  withhold  such  gifts,  as  too  pre- 
cious, from  the  missionary  cause;  which  would  not 
rather  offer  to  it  the  best  talent,  the  richest  culture, 

THE  FLOWER  OF  THE  CHURCHES. 


CHAPTER  V. 
"how  shall  they  preach,  except  they  be 

SENT  ?" 

While  Judson  had  been  anxiously  considering  his 
personal  duty  in  regard  to  Foreign  Missions,  with  but 
little  sympathy  from  those  around  him,  a  similar  pro- 
cess was  going  on  in  the  minds  of  several  young  men  in 
Williams  College.  Mills,  Richards,  Fiske,  Hall,  names 
dear  to  the  Christian  world,  had  already,  a  year  before, 
united  in  an  association,  called  by  them  "  The  Brethren," 
for  the  cultivation  of  a  missionary  spirit  among  them- 
selves. But  as  this  society,  either  through  the  modesty 
or  the  timidity  of  its  members,  was  strictly  secret,  he 
did  not  probably  know  of  its  existence  till  some  time 
subsequent  to  his  own  decision.  Several  of  these  young 
men  entered  the  Junior  Class  in  Andover  Seminary  in 
the  winter  of  1809-10 ;  but  as  Judson  was  now  in  his 
last  theological  year,  it  is  not  likely  that  they  became 
at  once  intimate  associates.  While,  however,  these 
things  had  been  going  on  at  Andover  and  Williams,  the 


"HOW    SHALL    THEY    PREACH,"    ETC.  49 

came  touch  of  fire  had  kindled  the  heart  of  Samuel 
Nott,  while  pursuing  his  theological  studies  with  his 
father  in  Connecticut.  Early  in  1810,  he  joined  Judson's 
class  at  Andover,  and  the  two  congenial  spirits  were 
soon  united  in  a  warm  friendship.  It  was  not  long 
before  their  classmate,  Newell,  was  one  with  them  in 
heart  and  purpose.  Next  came  Gordon  Hall.  Just 
on  the  eve  of  accepting  a  pastorship,  he  received  a 
short  letter  from  Judson,  then  personally  a  stranger  to 
liim,  which  reawakened  all  his  missionary  ardor,  and 
rising  son  saw  him  on  his  way  to  Andover." 
Ere  long,  the  whole  devoted  band  became  helpers  of 
each  tith  and  zeal. 

Most  of  them  had,  till  now,  been  looking  chiefly  to-' 
of  our  own  country;  but  in  the  free 
interchange  of  thought,  and  the  Christian  communion 
enjoyed  at  Andover,  their  hearts  soon  kindled  with  a 
more  generous  fire,  and  their  views  expanded  to  the 
idea  of  M  >r  the  World. 

"  I  have  ever  thought,"  says  Mr.  Judson,  in  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Chapin,  in  1837,  u  that  the  providence  of  God  was  con- 
spicuously m  in  bringing  us  all  together,  from  differ- 
ent and  distant  parts.  Some  of  us  had  been  considering  the 
subject  of  missions  for  a  long  time,  and  some  but  recently. 
Some,  and  indeed  the  greater  part,  had  thought  chiefly  of 
and  efforts  among  the  neighboring  tribes  of 
Indians,  without  contemplating  abandonment  of  country,  and 

1 


50  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

devotement  for  life.  The  reading  and  reflection  of  others 
had  led  them  in  a  different  way ;  and  when  we  all  met  at  the 
same  Seminary,  and  came  to  a  mutual  understanding  on  the 
ground  of  foreign  missions  and  missions  for  life,  the  subject 
assumed,  in  our  minds,  such  an  overwhelming  importance  and 
awful  solemnity,  as  bound  us  to  one  another,  and  to  our  pur- 
pose, more  firmly  than  ever.  How  evident  it  is  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  had  been  operating  in  different  places,  and 
upon  different  individuals,  preparing  the  way  for  those  move- 
ments which  have  since  pervaded  the  American  churches, 
and  will  continue  to  increase  until  the  kingdoms  of  tins  world 
become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Anointed ! " 

From  this  nucleus  the  missionary  spirit  diffused  itself 
through  the  Seminary,  and  gradually  extended  into 
other  institutions  of  learning,  and  into  the  Christian 
community  generally. 

The  public  mind  was,  indeed,  not  wholly  unprepared 
to  respond  to  their  appeals.  The  early  movement  of 
the  English  Baptists,  which  resulted  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Serampore  Mission,  and  was,  undoubtedly, 
the  headspring  of  missionary  influence  in  England,  had 
not  been  without  marked  effects  upon  the  spirit  of 
American  churches.  In  this  country,  the  Congregation- 
alists,  stimulated  by  the  example  of  their  own  brethren 
in  England,  took  the  lead  in  promoting  an  interest  in 
missions.  In  1799,  an  association,  which  had  for  its 
object  the  diffusion  of  the  gospel  among  the  Indian 
tribes,  as  well  as  among  our  own  people  in  the  remote 


"  HOW    SHALL    THEY    TRKACU,"    ETC.  51 

settlement?,  was  formed  in  Boston,  under  the  name  of 
The  Massachusetts  Missionary  Society.  In  1804,  its 
amended  constitution  embraced  also  the  evangelization 
"  of  more  distant  regions  of  the  earth,  as  circumstances 
shall  invite,  and  the  ability  of  the  society  shall  admit." 
The  previous  year  had  witnessed  the  birth  of  that 
missionary  periodical,  which,  under  the  successive 
names  of  The  Massachusetts  Missionary  Magazine,  The 
Panoplist,  and  The  Missionary  Herald,  has  exerted  so 
beneficent  an  influence  upon  the  destinies  of  the  world. 
A  similar  spirit  had,  early  in  the  century,  manifested 
itself  in  the  Baptist  churches.  In  1802,  The  Baptist 
Missionary  Society  of  Massachusetts  was  formed  in 
Boston.  The  next  year,  this  society  commenced  the 
publication  of  The  American  Baptist  Magazine,  now 
known  as  The  Missionary  Magazine,  under  the  care  of 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Baldwin,  D.D.,  a  man  whose  genial, 
large-hearted,  truly  missionary  piety  has  rarely  been 
equalled.  II*'  WM  the  friend  and  correspondent  of 
.  Fuller,  and  Ryland;  and  it  was  through  him 
that  the  spirit  of  these  noble  English  Baptists  was,  in 
some  degree,  communicated  to  their  brethren  in  this 
country.  In  1812,  The  Salem  Bible  Translation  and 
Foreign  Mission  Society,  designed  chiefly  as  an  aux- 
iliary to  the  Serampore  mission,  was  formed  in  Salem, 
through  the  exertions  of  Rev.  Lucius  Bolles. 


52  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

Still,  these  organizations  were  very  limited,  both  as 
to  their  objects  and  their  pecuniary  means.  The  pro- 
motion of  religion  among  the  Indians  and  in  our  frontier 
settlements,  was  regarded  as  the  appropriate  work  of 
American  Christians ;  while  foreign  missions  were 
looked  on  as  something  rather  to  be  wondered  at  and 
admired  from  afar,  than  an  object  calling  for  zealous 
practical  cooperation.  None  of  these  societies  made 
any  provision  for  sending  out  missionaries  to  foreign 
lands.  Nor  were  Christian  youth  taught  to  regard  the 
work  as  one  having  claims  upon  their  personal  service. 
Annual  sermons  were,  indeed,  preached  in  behalf  of 
missions.  Here  and  there  benevolent  individuals,  whose 
Christian  sympathies  had  been  quickened  on  such  an 
occasion,  or  by  the  brief  visit  of  an  English  foreign 
missionary,  gave  liberal  donations  to  English  missions 
in  the  East.  Dr.  Carey  acknowledged  the  receipt  of 
six  thousand  dollars  from  America  during  the  years 
1806-7.  At  another  time,  more  than  three  thousand 
dollars  were  sent  from  Philadelphia,  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. But  an  independent  American  movement,  for 
the  occupation  of  foreign  fields  by  missionaries  sent  out 
and  supported  by  ourselves,  seems  not  then  to  have 
entered  the  minds  of  good  men.  So  slight  was  the 
prospect  of  any  immediate  aid  from  this  country,  that 
the  young  brethren  at  Andover'felt  themselves  obliged 


"  HOW    SHALL    THEY    PREACH,"    ETC.  53 

to  seek  it  from  the  liberality  of  British  Christians.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  April,  1810,  the  following  application  to 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  was  addressed  by  Mr 
Judson,  on  behalf  of  himself  and  his  associates,  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Bogue  :  — 

Divinity  College,  Andover,  Mass.,  April,  1810. 
Rev.  Sir':  I  have  considered  the  subject  of  missions  nearly 
a  year,  and  have  found  my  mind  gradually  tending  to  a  deep 
conviction  that  it  is  my  duty,  personally,  to  engage  in  this 
Several  of  my  brethren  of  this  college  may  finally 
unite  with  me  in  my  present  resolution.  On  their,  as  well  as 
my  own  behalf,  I  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  you  this  letter. 
My  object  is  to  obtain  information  on  certain  points  —  whether 
there  is  at  present  such  a  call  for  missionaries  in  India, 
Tartary,  or  any  part  of  the  eastern  continent,  as  will  induce 
the  directors  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  to  engage 
new  missionaries ;  whether  two  or  three  young,  unmarried 
men,  having  received  a  liberal  education,  and  resided  two 
years  in  this  Divinity  School,  wishing  to  serve  their  Saviour 
in  a  heathen  land,  and  indeed  susceptible  of  a  "passion  for 
therrach  young  men.  arriving  in  England 

prfag,  with  full  recommendations  from  the  first  Christian 
in  this  eountry,  may  expect  to  be  received  an 

Urn  by  the  directors,  and  placed  at  the  seminary  in 
Gosport,  if  that  be  judged  expedient ;  and  Whether,  provided 

\e  satisfaction  as  to  their  fitness  to  undertake  the  work, 
all  their  necessary  expenses  after  arriving  in  England  shall 
be  defrayed  from  the  funds  of  the  society ;  which  funds  will, 
it  is  hoped,  bo  ultimately  reimbursed  by  supplies  from  the 
American  churches. 

We  have  consulted  our  professors  on  this  subject,  partic- 
ularly Dr.  Griffin,  professor  of  oratory.    He  intends  writing 


54  THE    EAKNEST   MAN. 

to  several  in  England,  and  perhaps  to  Dr.  Bogue.  But  his 
engagements  being  such  as  will  prevent  his  writing  at  present, 
and  wishing  myself  to  receive  a  letter  from  you  immediately, 
containing  the  desired  information,  I  have  written  myself.  I 
close  with  an  earnest  request  that  you  will  please  to  transmit 
me  an  answer  as  soon  as  possible,  and  a  prayer  that  your 
answer  may  be  favorable  to  my  most  ardent  wishes. 

Signed,  Adoniram  Judson,  Jr. 

Eev.  Dr.  Bogue,  Gosport,  England. 

P.  S.  I  shall  deem  it  a  favor  if  you  do  not  confine  your 
remarks  to  the  points  which  I  have  proposed,  but  are  pleased 
to  give  such  general  information  and  advice  as  you  may  think 
will  be  useful  to  me  and  my  brethren. 

But  their  earnest  zeal  had  already  awakened  a 
warmer  interest  at  home  than  they,  probably,  were 
aware  of.  Their  instructors  and  the  neighboring  min- 
istry had  begun  to  ask,  whether  the  singular  impres- 
sions on  the  minds  of  these  young  men,  did  not  indicate 
an  era  of  new  Christian  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
churches.  On  the  26th  of  June,  the  General  (Con- 
gregationalist)  Association  was  to  meet  at  Bradford. 
On  the  day  previous,  the  Andover  professors,  together 
with  several  clergymen  of  the  vicinity,  met  for  deliber- 
ation and  prayer  on  this  subject  at  the  house  of  Pro- 
fessor Stuart.  The  result  was  a  recommendation  to 
the  young  men  to  present  their  case  to  the  association. 
As  not  only  the  several  associations  of  Massachusetts, 


"HOW    SHALL    THEY   PREACH,"   ETC.  55 

but  also  the  general  associations  of  New  Hampshire 
and  Connecticut  were  represented  in  this  body,  the  step 
must  be  regarded  as  a  very  important  one  in  the  pro- 
gress of  this  most  interesting  history. 

In  accordance  with  this  advice,  the  following  modest 
and  manly  paper  was  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Judson,  and 
signed  by  himself,  Nott,  Mills,  and  Newell.  The  names 
of  Rice  and  Richards,  which  were  also  appended,  in 
the  first  instance,  were  struck  off  at  the  suggestion  of 
Dr.  Spring,*  lest  the  association  should  be  alarmed  at 
so  large  a  number  of  applicants. 

The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Divinity  College,  respect- 
fully request  the  attention  of  their  reverend  fathers,  convened 
in  the  General  Association,  at  Bradford,  to  the  following  state- 
ment and  inquiries  :  — 

They  beg  leave  to  state  that  their  minds  have  been  long 
impressed  with  the  duty  and  importance  of  personally  at- 
tempting a  mission  to  the  heathen  ;  that  the  impressions  on 
their  minds  have  induced  a  serious,  and,  as  they  trust,  a 
prayerful  consideration  of  the  subject  in  its  various  attitudes, 
particularly  in  relation  to  the  probable  success  and  the  diffi- 
culties attending  such  an  attempt;  and  that,  after  examining 
all  the  information  which  they  can  obtain,  they  consider  them- 
selves as  devoted  to  this  work  for  life,  whenever  God,  in  his 
providence,  shall  open  the  way. 

They  now  offer  the  following  inquiries,  on  which  they 
solicit  the  opinion  and  advice  of  this  association :  Whether, 
with  their  present  views  and  feelings,  they  ought  to  renounce 

♦  Rev.  Dr.  Spring,  Sen.,  of  Newburyport 


56  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

the  object  of  missions,  as  either  visionary  or  impracticable  ; 
if  hot,  whether  they  ought  to  direct  their  attention  to  the 
eastern  or  the  western  world;  whether  they  may  expect 
patronage  and  support  from  a  missionary  society  in  this 
country,  or  must  commit  themselves  to  the  direction  of  a 
European  society ;  and  what  preparatory  measures  they 
ought  to  take,  previous -to  actual  engagement. 

The  undersigned,  feeling  their  youth  and  inexperience, 
look  up  to  their  fathers  in  the  church,  and  respectfully  solicit 
their  advice,  direction,  and  prayers. 

.  Signed,  Adoniram  Judson,  Jr. 

Samuel  Nott,  Jr. 

Samuel  J.  Mills. 

Samuel  Newell. 

On  the  morning  of  the  26th,  Dr.  Spring  and  Mr. 
Worcester  rode  together  to  Bradford.  In  the  course 
of  their  conversation,  on  the  way,  the  idea  of  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions was  first  suggested ;  a  circumstance  to  which  Dr. 
Worcester,  near  the  close  of  life,  referred,  with  a  fond- 
ness in  which  every  Christian  heart  must  sympathize. 

The  subject  having  been  laid  before  the  association, 
the  young  brethren  appeared,  on  the  28th,  before  their 
assembled  fathers  in  the  Bradford  meeting-house,  and, 
after  presenting  their  memorial,  severally  made  a  state- 
ment of  their  feelings  and  purposes  in  regard  to  the 
missionary  work.  Their  application  was  favorably 
received,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  consider 


"  HOW   SHALL   THEY   PREACH,"   ETC.  57 

« 

and  report  on  the  subject.  On  the  following  day,  the 
committee  submitted  a  report,  embodying  the  sub- 
stance of  that  ever,  memorable  conversation  on  the 
morning  of  the  26th.  Its  unanimous  adoption  resulted 
in  the  immediate  formation  of  that  institution,  which 
has  since  borne  so  signal  t  part  in  the  conversion  of 
the  heathen  world  to  Christ,  The  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions.  Thus,  for  the 
first  time,  American  Christianity  publicly  recognized 
its  universal  mission,  and  pledged  itself  to  enter  on  the 
great  work. 

Still,  their  hearts  seem  to  have  faltered  in  the  very 
net  of  taking  that  decisive  step.  To  the  deep  disap- 
pointment of  the  young  men,  no  measures  were  taken 
for  providing  the  pecuniary  means  necessary  to  cany 
their  wi.-hes  into  effect.  Indeed,  so  far  was  the  thought 
of  immediate  action  from  the  minds  of  the  Board,  that 
a  fortnight  elapsed  before  the  anxious  applicants  could 
even  ascertain  how  their  petition  had  been  disposed  of. 
And  when  informed  at  length,  that  it  had  resulted  in 
nothing  more  than  the  advice,  —  "  in  the  way  of  earnest 
prayer  and  diligent  attention  to  suitable  studies  and 
means  of  information,  and  putting  themselves  under 
the  patronage  and  direction  of  The  Board  of  Commis- 
Sbners  for  Foreign  Missions,  humbly  to  wait  the  open- 
ings and  guidance  of  Providence  in  regard  to  their 


58  THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

» 

great  and  excellent  design,"  —  they  felt  that  all  hope 
of  aid  from  this  quarter  must  be  relinquished  for  the 
present.  Their  thoughts  now  turned  to  England,  with 
renewed  interest.  "  There  are  now  four  of  us,"  writes 
Judson,  under  date  of  June  11th,  "  who  are  ready  to 
start  at  three  months'  warning,  for  any  part  of  the 
world  —  Hall,  Newell,  Nott,  and  myself.  There  are 
at  least  four  others  in  the  junior  class,  who  are  ready 
to  support  the  mission,  wherever  it  shall  be  established. 
We  are  in  a  state  of  suspense  as  to  any  immediate 
measures;  our  eyes  are  directed  to  an  arrival  from 
England." 

Early  in  the  following  September,  the  Board  held 
its  second  meeting,  and  had  still  nothing  to  offer  "  the 
young  gentlemen  at  Andover,"  but  a  repetition  of  their 
advice  in  June,  uto  pursue  their  studies  till  further 
information  relative  to  the  missionary  field  be  obtained, 
and  the  finances  of  the  institution  will  justify  their  ap- 
pointment." An  address,  and  a  form  of  subscription, 
to  be  printed  and  circulated  among  the  churches,  were 
the  only  indications  of  advance  since  the  previous 
meeting. 

In  this  state  of  things,  the  expected  letter  from  the 
secretary  of  The  London  Missionary  Society,  in  reply 
to  Mr.  Judson's  of  April  10th,  came  to  hand,  contain- 
ing strong  encouragement  of  an  immediate  appointment 


"HOW    SHALL    THEY    PKEACH,"    ETC  59 

by  that  body,  should  its  managers  be  satisfied  in  regard 
to  the  qualifications  of  the  candidates.  It  now  became 
Mr.  Judson's  most  earnest  wish  to  proceed  to  England, 
in  furtherance  of  this  object.  The  Board,  though  at 
first  unfavorable  to  the  plan,  and  disposed  rather  to 
wait  for  the  development  of  the  missionary  spirit  in  this 
country,  at  length  yielded  to  his  arguments,  or  his  im- 
portunity, and  consented  that  he  should  go  as  their 
accredited  messenger. 

Being  unwilling,  however,  to  relinquish  the  control 
of  the  projected  mission,  they  directed  him  to  ascertain 
whether  a  concert  of  measures  could  not  be  effected 
between  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners,  and 
the  London  Missionary  Society  ;  M  particularly,"  — 
thus  the  letter  of  instructions  proceeds,  —  "  whether,  if 
circumstances  should  render  it  desirable,  you  and  your 
brethren  cun  be  supported  in  missionary  service  for  any 
time  by  the  London  funds,  without  committing  your- 
selves wholly  and. finally  to  the  direction  of  the  London 
society ;  or  whether  it  may  be  in  any  case  consistent, 
for  the  mission  to  be  supported  partly  by  them  and 
partly  by  us ;  and  if  so,  under  whose  direction  it  must 
be  held." 

But  in  case  such  a  connection  could  not  be  formed, 
.'uul  the  American  Board  were  still  unable  to  assume 
their  entire  support,  it  was  the  expectation  of  all  con- 


bO  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

cerned  that  the  young  men  would  be  resigned,  uncon- 
ditionally, to  the  London  society.  This  is  evident,  from 
Dr.  Worcester's  letter  to  the  secretary  of  the  London 
society,  of  which  Mr.  Judson  was  bearer.  "  Should 
it,"  he  says,  "  in  the  event  be  thought  best  that  our 
young  brethren 'should  be  resigned  to  the  patronage 
and  direction  of  your  Society,  your  venerable  and  highly 
respected  Board  of  Directors  will  judge  whether,  after 
the  course  of  studies  through  which  they  have  passed, 
it  will  be  expedient  for  them  to  spend  any  time  at  your 
school  in  Gosport;  and  whether,  for  any  purpose,  it 
will  be  necessary  for  the  other  three  to  go  to  England 
before  they  shall  be  actually  engaged  in  your  service." 
How  faint  was  then  the  prospect  that  the  American 
Board  could  sustain  an  independent  mission,  or  even 
contribute  any  efficient  aid  towards  the  support  of  the 
joint  mission  which  they  proposed,  appears  from  the 
same  letter.  It  certainly  presented  no  very  flattering 
inducements  to  their  English  brethren  to  enter  into 
"  a  concert  of  measures." 

After  an  elaborate  apology  for  this  effort  of  American 
Christians,  to  send  the  gospel  to  Asia,  on  the  ground  of 
a  general  feeling  of  discouragement  in  regard  to  mis- 
sions on  our  own  continent,  the  letter  proceeds  :  — 

As  yet,  however,  we  have  no  adequate  funds  established 
for  the  support  of  distant  and  expensive  missions.    What 


"HOW   SHALL    THEY   PREACH,"    ETC.  61 

may  be  done  in  the  course  of  a  short  time  we  know  not  Ifc 
is  the  desire  and  the  prayer  of  many,  that  American  mis- 
sionaries may  have  American  support ;  and  we  are  not  with- 
out hope  that  He  to  whom  the  silver  and  the  gold  belong 
will  open  the  hearts  of  the  rich  among  us  for  this  interesting 
purpose.  Should  this  hope  be  realized,  and  missionary  funds 
to  any  considerable  amount  be  raised,  they  will  probably  be 
placed  under  such  an  arrangement  as  to  be  employed  either 
in  the  East,  or  on  our  own  continent,  as  divine  Providence 
may  direct 

Furnished  with  these  letters  by  the  Prudential  Com- 
mittee, and  having,  by  his  personal  exertions,  collected 
the  money  necessary  for  his  expenses,*  Mr.  Judson 
embarked,  January,  1811,  in  the  ship  Packet,  for  Eng- 
land. 

*  The  extra  expenses  incurred  by  his  detention  on  the  way,  were 
afterwards  liquidated  by  the  Board. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE   DOOR    OPENED. 


The  voyage  was  interrupted  by  a  very  unwelcome 
incident.  England  and  France  were  then  at  war,  and 
the  two  governments  respectively  had  ordered  the  seiz- 
ure of  all  vessels  engaged  in  trade  with  the  rival 
power.  The  Packet  was  captured,  on  her  way  to 
England,  by  the  French  ship  of  war  LTnvincible  Na- 
poleon, and  the  young  missionary,  arrested  on  his 
peaceful  embassy,  was  thrust  into  her  crowded  and 
loathsome  hold  as  a  prisoner  of  war.  Being  landed 
with  the  captive  crew  at  Bayonne,  he  was  lodged  with 
them  in  a  dismal  underground  dungeon  of  the  prison 
in  that  city,  under  a  strong  military  guard.  The  same 
night,  however,  he  effected  his  escape,  by  the  aid  of  an 
American  friend ;  and,  after  remaining  a  short  time  in 
concealment,  he  was  released  on  parole.  It  was,  how- 
ever, some  three  months  before  he  could  obtain  per- 
mission to  leave  the  country.  He  improved  the  inter- 
val for  gaining  a  knowledge  of  French  society,  with 


THE    DOOR    OPENED.  63 

special  reference  to  the  influence  of  infidel  philosophy 
on  the  national  character  and  condition.  To  this  he 
referred,  in  after  life,  as  among  the  most  profitable  of 
his  missionary  studies. 

Being  at  length  allowed  to  prosecute  his  journey,  he 
crossed  the  British  Channel  on  the  3d  of  May,  1811  ; 
and  on  the  6th  proceeded  to  London,  and  delivered  the 
letters  of  which  he  was  bearer,  and  his  own  letted  of 
instructions,  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society. 

The  following  extract,  from  their  minutes,  is  not  with- 
out importance  in  this  history. 

"Meeting,  May  20,  1811. 

"Head    a   letter,  dated    January  3,  1811,  from    Rev.  S. 
>ter,  of  Salem,  secretary  to  the  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Foreign  Missions,  requesting  the  cooperation  of 
this  society  in  sending  out  four  young  men  as  missionaries 
to  the  heathen. 

v\  also  a  lettcr'from  Rev.  Messrs.  Griffin,  Woods, 
and  Stuart,  professors  of  Andover  College,  recommending 
Messrs.  A.  Judson,  S.  Newell,  S.  Nott,  and  G.  Hall,  as  hav- 
ing received  a  liberal  education,  and  of  good  moral  and  re- 
ligious characters,  suitable  for  this  purpose. 

u  Read  a  letter  of  instructions  to  Mr.  Judson,  also  a  rec- 
ommendatory letter  from  Rev.  Mr.  Codman,  of  Dorchester, 
dated  December  19,  1810. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed,  to  consist  of 
Messrs.  Alers,  Cowie,  and  Roberts,  with  the  secretary,  to 
consider  what  measures  may  be  suitable  to  bo  adopted  re- 


64  THE   EARNEST  MAN. 

specting  the  proposition  made  by  the  American  brethren  to 
this  society,  and  report** 


In  Mr.  Burdens  friendly  reply  to  Mr.  Worcester's 
letter,  this  proposition  is  passed  over  in  silence  ;  but 
Mr.  Judson  was  informed,  orally,  that  the  demands  of 
their  own  extensive  missionary  operations  were  such, 
that  they  rather  needed  he,lp  than  were  able  to  give  it 
to  other  organizations ;  and  furthermore,  that  under 
any  circumstances,  such  a  joint  conduct  of  missions 
would  not,  in  their  opinion,  be  practicable. 

Finding  that  an  appointment  under  the  projected 
coalition  was  now  out  of  the  question,  Mr.  Judson  re- 
newed the  inquiries,  previously  made  by  letter  on  be- 
half of  himself  and  his  associates,  as  to  the  possibility 
of  their  being  employed  as  missionaries  of  the  London 
society. 

This  application  was  received  with  great  cordiality  ; 
the  testimonials  which  the  Board  had  received  from 
this  country,  as  well  as  their  personal  intercourse  with 
one  of  the  number,  having  given  the  most  favorable 
impression  of  the  talents,  piety,  and  missionary  zeal  of 
the  candidates.  In  them,  they  found  an  enthusiasm 
congenial  with  their  own ;  and,  in  order  to  secure  the 
services  of  such  men,  they  would  gladly  have  assumed 
the  expense  of  founding  and  supporting  a  new  mission 


THE    DOOR    OPENED.  65 

in  the  East.  They  were  particularly  desirous  of  re- 
taining Judson,  who  seems  to  have  excited  a  warm 
personal  interest  in  these  noble-minded  Christians.  To 
his  remark  to  one  of  the  secretaries,  just  before  leav- 
ing, that  the  American  Board  might  ultimately  be 
able  to  support  them  all,  the  reply  was  made :  "  No, 
you  must  not  all  leave  us  ;  and  whatever  your  brethren 
do,  stay  you  by  us,  at  all  events."  Appointments  were 
voted  to  the  whole  number ;  with  the  full  understand- 
ing, however,  that  the  young  men  preferred,  and  would 
avail  themselves  of  American  patronage  if  it  could  be 
obtained. 

After  a  visit  to  the  missionary  school  at  Gosport,  and 
a  conference  on  the  subject  of  missions  with  its  vener- 
able principal,  Rev.  Dr.  Bogue,  he  turned  his  face 
towards  home.  On  the  18th  of  June,  six  weeks  from 
the  time  of  his  arrival,  he  embarked  at  Gravcsend, 
and  landed  in  New  York  on  the  17th  of  the  following 
August. 

Just  a  month  after  his  return,  he  met  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners,  at  "Worcester,  rfe  soon  found 
that  he  had  done  well  in  obtaining,  while  he  had  the 
opportunity,  the  appointment  of  the  London  society. 
The  nine  months  which  had  elapsed  since  he  was  sent 
out  by  the  committee,  had  not  advanced  the  cause  at 
home  a  single  step.  All  this  while  they  had  been 
5 


66  THE   EARNEST  MAN. 

leaning  on  the  hope  of  aid  from  a  foreign  institution, 
and  had  experienced  the  inevitable  c6nsequence,  a 
paralysis  of  their  own  powers.  The  result  of  his  mis- 
sion brought  about  an  entire  change  of  policy.  Cut 
off  from  all  hope  of  help  from  abroad,  and  in  danger 
of  losing  their  missionary  candidates  in  a  body,  their 
only  alternative  was  immediate,  energetic  action.  The 
crisis  had  come ;  and  nobly  was  it  met  by  those  who 
had  before  seemed  so  timid  and  hesitating. 

When  first  informed  that  the  London  society  de- 
clined the  proposed  connection,  and  that  no  pecuniary 
aid  for  the  support  of  the  young  men  was  to  be  ex- 
pected from  that  body,  unless  they  were  wholly  re- 
signed to  its  control,  the  feeling  of  disappointment  and 
perplexity  was  predominant  over  every  other.  There 
is  reason  to  fear,  that  had  Judson  returned  with  this 
information  alone,  they  would  not  have  been  able  to 
resolve  upon  the  manly  course,  which  has  made  their 
names  illustrious  as  the  founders  of  American  Foreign 
Missions.*  The  Committee's  Report,  on  the  first  day 
of  the  session,  did  indeed  recommend  to  the  Board  to 
assume  the  entire  support  of  the  four  candidates, 
rather  than  resign  them  altogether ;  but  the  day  passed 
away  without  any  decisive  action. 

*  See  the  quotation  from  Dr.  Worcester's  Report,  p.  73  of  this 
volume. 


THE   DOOE   OPENED.  67 

It  soon  became  known,  however,  that  Judson  and 
Nott,  at  least,  were  fixed  in  their  purpose  to  submit  to 
no  further  delay.  Distressed,  beyond  measure,  at  this 
indecision  and  apparent  apathy,  and  seeing  no  prospect, 
in  the  present  state  of  things,  but  that  they  would  be 
detained  yet  another  year,  these  two  young  men,  after 
mutual  consultation,  represented  to  the  Board,  in  strong 
terms,  their  anxiety  to  be  on  heathen  ground  without 
delay.  They  reminded  the  Board  that  they  had  al- 
ready waited  long  since  completing  their  studies. 
They  urged,  especially,  the  impending  war  with  Eng- 
land, which,  if  they  were  not  sent  out  immediately, 
might  detain  them  years  longer  from  their  field  of 
labor.  But  their  plea  was  without  effect.  One  of  the 
members,  who  had  filled  the  office  of  chief  magistrate 
of  a  neighboring  State,  pledged  them  his  word  that 
there  would  be  no  war ! 

But  the  young  men,  being  otherwise  advised,  were 
not  willing  thus  to  risk  their  missionary  prospects. 
Finding  every  other  argument  ineffectual,  they  at 
length  stated  to  the  Board  their  own  decision,  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  aid  of  the  London  society,  and  to 
embark  in  the  first  ship  sailing  for  India.  The  an- 
nouncement was  received  with  evident  feeling  by  all 
present,  and,  by  two  or  three  of  the  members,  with 
marked  displeasure.     "  This,"  says  Judson,  "  we  wero 


ov 

[TJKJ7Er, 


68  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

sorry  to  occasion ;  but  our  dearest  interests  were  at 
stake."  He  could  not  regret  the  step,  however,  when 
its  happy  influence  was  seen  in  the  new  energy  im- 
parted to  the  action  of  the  Board.  He  adds :  "  On 
breaking  up  for  the  night  all  felt,  I  believe,  that  some 
decisive  measure  must  be  taken  with  the  dawn  of 
another  day." 

When  they  met  the  Board,  the  next  morning,  they 
were  informed  that  they  were  not  advised  to  connect 
themselves  with  the  London  society.  The  vote  which 
had  been  passed,  in  regard  to  this  point,  was  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

"  Voted,  that  this  Board  do  not  advise  Messrs. 
Adoniram  Judson,  Jun.,  and  Samuel  Nott,  Jun.,  to  place 
themselves  at  present  under  The  London  Missionary 
Society ;  but  to  wait  the  further  intimations  of  Provi- 
dence relative  to  our  means  of  furnishing  them  with  the 
requisite  support  in  the  proposed  foreign  mission." 

Before  the  close  of  the  morning  session,  they  were 
able  to  place  beneath  this  vote  the  following  ever- 
memorable  record :  — 

"  Messrs.  Adoniram  Judson,  Jun.,  Samuel  Nott,  Jun., 
Samuel  Newell,  and  Gordon  Hall,  were  appointed 
missionaries  to  labor  under  the  direction  of  this  Board 
in  Asia,  either  in  the  Burman  empire,  or  in  Surat,  or 
in  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  or  elsewhere,  as,  in  the  view 


THE   DOOR   OPENED.  69 

of  the  Prudential  Committee,  Providence  shall  open 
the  most  favorable  door." 

Another  vote  fixed  the  amount  of  salary,  and  the 
sum  to  be  allowed  for  outfit ;  and  made  an  appropria- 
tion of  three  hundred  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  books 
for  their  use. 

Thus  the  long  agitated  question  was  at  length  settled, 
and  the  American  mission  bark  fairly  launched  upon 
its  destined  way. 

The  narrative,  just  given,  does  no  discredit  to  the 
excellent  men  who  composed  the  first  American  Board 
of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions.  For  learning, 
piety,  and  practical  wisdom,  they  were  among  the 
noblest  representatives  of  their  age.  But  in  those 
last  words  —  their  age  —  is  found  the  secret  of  their 
slow  and  hesitating  policy.  They  were  yet  standing  in 
the  shadow  cast  backward  by  the  departing  eighteenth 
century,  in  whose  ideas  and  habits  their  entire  char- 
acters had  been  formed.  Conservatives  in  all  things, 
their  aim,  in  the  sphere  of  religion,  was  rather  to 
"  strengthen  the  things  that  remained  and  were  ready 
to  die,"  than  to  attempt  bold  aggressions  on  the 
kingdom  of  darkness.  Whatever  was  novel,  and 
especially  whatever  was  to  be  done  in  haste,  was 
wholly  foreign  and  repulsive  to  their  settled  modes  of 
thought  and  action.     It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  the 


70  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

sudden  outburst  of  the  spirit  of  the  new  age,  seen  in 
the  bold  plans  and  fiery  energy  of  the  ardent  youths 
of  Andover,  should  have  been  met,  at  first,  with  com- 
parative coldness  by  these  considerate  men.  They  were 
not,  indeed,  slow  to  appreciate  the  excellence  of  the 
object;  but  their  very  sense  of  its  greatness  made  them 
timid.  A  quarter  of  a  century  would  not,  to  them, 
have  seemed  too  long  for  maturing  a  plan  of  opera- 
tions, and  collecting  materials,  commensurate  with  so 
vast  a  work.  And  who  shall  say,  that  this  caution  was 
not  an  indispensable  element  in  the  glorious  enterprise? 
It  was  the  union  of  their  deliberate  wisdom  with  the 
all-hoping,  all-daring  zeal  of  youth,  that  secured  to  the 
common  movement  all  the  qualities  which  insure  suc- 
cess, and  made  the  change,  from  the  policy  of  the  past 
to  that  of  the  present,  a  safe  and  beautiful  transition. 

The  point  of  time  in  which  the  undertaking  had  its 
birth,  was,  moreover,  one  of  special  pecuniary  difficulty. 
The  energies  of  the  industrial  and  commercial  classes 
were  benumbed  by  an  embargo.  A  general  spirit  of 
gloom  and  foreboding  overspread  the  country.  Every- 
body felt  poor,  and  inclined  rather  to  retrench  ordinary 
expenditures  than  to  incur  new  ones. "  It  was,  seem- 
ingly, the  worst  time  that  could  have  been  chosen  to 
ask  for  money  to  advance  the  spiritual  welfare  of  our 
^antipodes.     What  could  be   expected,  but  that  the 


THE    DOOR    OPENED.  71 

scheme  would  be  at  once  condemned,  as  too  visionary 
and  impracticable  to  be  entertained  ?  A  fatal  blow  might 
thus  be  struck  at  the  infant  enterprise.  To  human 
forecast,  delay  seemed  wise  ;  and  we  cannot  wonder  if, 
in  the  first  embarrassment,  the  generous  youthful 
zeal  which  insisted  on  immediate  action,  should  to  these 
cautious  fathers  have  looked  rather  like  rash  and  self- 
conceited  presumption.  But  the  event  proved  that,  in 
this  instance,  the  uncalculating  enthusiasm  of  youth 
was  a  heaven-inspired,  a  prophetic  impulse.  Provi- 
dence had  selected  this  hour  of  darkness  and  depres- 
sion, for  doing  signal  honor  to  the  divine  principle  of 
faith.  u  Not  by  might  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit, 
eaith  the  Lord,"  was  to  be  inscribed  5n  the  very  corner- 
stone of  this  noblest  work  of  American  piety. 

It  i>  animating  to  remark  the  immediate  effect  of  the 
new  position  of  the  society,  on  the  whole  tone  of  the 
missionary  enterprise.  It  was  the  only  one  which 
could  allow  full  development,  to  men  like  Samuel 
Worcester  and  Jeremiah  Evarts.  Released  from  the 
cramping  influence  of  mere  prudent  calculation,  they 
stood  up  in  the  dignity  of  a  sublime  faith,  and  their 
worjls  went  with  an  awakening,  thrilling  power  into 
the  heart  of  the  American  church.  It  was  the  cry  in 
her  ear,  long  dulled  by  spiritual  sloth :  "  Arise,  shine  ; 
for  thy  light  is  come;  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen 


72  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

upon  thee.  And  the  nations  shall  come  to  thy  light, 
and  kings  to  the  brightness  of  thy  rising."  Assuredly, 
none  of  their  successors,  in  happier  times,  can  show  a 
brighter  page,  than  that  which  records  the  achievements 
of  these  men,  in  the  winter  of  the  year  1812. 

An  opportunity  unexpectedly  offered,  for  sending 
out  the  missionaries  to  India  in  the  ship  Harmony, 
which  was  about  to  sail  from  Philadelphia,  by  special 
permission  of  government.  There  was  but  a  fortnight 
for  preparation,  and  but  five  hundred  dollars  were  in 
the  treasury ;  while  eight  or  ten  thousand  must  be 
raised  in  this  brief  interval.  Yet  it  was  decided  that 
they  should  go  !  It  was  not  all,  even  of  the  most  ar- 
dent friends  of  missions,  whose  faith  was  equal  to 
an  emergency  like  this.  But  there  were  some,  —  let 
it  be  ever  held  in  grateful  remembrance,  who  were 
thus  honored  of  God.  "  Brother  Worcester,"  said  Dr. 
Spring,*  but  a  few  days  before  the  intended  embarka- 
tion, "I  fear  you  are  going  too  fast.  I  doubt  if  we 
shall  have  the  means  to  pay  the  sum  which  we  must 
borrow."  "  There  is  money  enough  in  the  churches," 
answered  Mr.  Worcester.  "  I  know  that  very  well ; 
but  how  can  you  get  at  it  ?  "  "  The  Lord  has  the 
Key  ! "  was  the  noble  reply,  which  contained  in  itself 
the  earnest  of  success.     For  never  yet,  in  the  history 

*  Memoir  of  Dr.  Worcester,  vol.  ii.  122. 


THE    DOOR    OPENED.  73 

of  Christian  benevolence,  was  such  a  trust  dishonored 
by  him  who  had  inspired  it. 

The  appointments  which  Mr.  Judson  had  obtained 
from  the  London  society,  were  found,  at  this  crisis,  to 
be  a  most  efficient  instrument  for  securing  the  desired 
object  at  home.  The  statement  to  the  public,  that  "  in 
the  last  resort,  the  missionaries  could  place  themselves 
under  the  care  and  direction  of  the  London  society," 
was  a  pledge  to  the  faint-hearted,  that  the  Board  was 
proceeding  with  considerate  foresight;  and  that  their 
contributions  would  not  be  lost  to  the  common  cause, 
even  should  its  present  attempt  prove  abortive.  To 
the  leaders  also,  in  the  new  movement,  it  was  no  small 
comfort  to  know  that  the  mission  bark  had  a  double 
bottom;  and  that  their  responsibilities,  if  found  to 
be  too  great,  could  be  at  once  transferred  to  other 
shoulders.  Accordingly,  the  whole  Prudential  Com- 
mittee at  length  concurred  in  the  views  of  the  cor- 
responding secretary;  and  a  resolution  was  unani- 
mously adopted,  to  send  out  the  missionaries  by  The 
Harmony.*  Such  importance  did  Dr.  Worcester  as- 
cribe to  the  above  consideration,  as  to  speak  of  it  in 
his  report,  at  the  next  annual  meeting  of  the  Board, 
in  the  following  language :  "  Probably,  indeed,  the 
resolution  could  not  have  been  taken  at  all,  but  for 

*  Memoir  of  Dr.  Worcester,  vol.  ii.  121  Mid  122. 


74  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

the  commission  which  had  been  obtained  from  that 
society.  For  the  committee  cast  themselves  upon 
Divine  Providence  in  the  case,  with  the  alternative 
distinctly  in  view,  that,  should  they  fail  of  seasonably 
obtaining  the  funds  to  enable  them  to  send  out  the 
missionaries  in  the  employment  of  this  Board,  they 
could,  in  the  last  resort,  let  them  go  under  the  London 
commission.  Having  this  alternative,  they  ventured 
upon  a  measure,  which  otherwise  (so  doubtful  was 
the  prospect  of  obtaining  the  pecuniary  means)  they 
probably  would  have  deemed  presumptuous."  * 

What  then  would  have  been  the  fate  of  the  proposed 
mission,  had  Judson  neglected  this  necessary  precau- 
tion !  So  beneficial  to  the  missionary  cause  had  proved 
that  step,  which  his  senior  brethren  were  at  first  dis- 
posed to  condemn/}- 

*  Dr.  Worcester's  Memoir,  v.  ii.  138. 

t  The  ground  of  this  displeasure,  as  stated  in  the  Life  of  Dr. 
Worcester,  by  his  son,  (vol.  ii.  115.)  was  as  follows:  "The 
agency  to  England,  as  is  obvious  from  the  Keport  of  the  Committee, 
was  a  disappointment  of  their  expectations.  Some  arrangements 
with  the  London  society  had  been  conditionally  made,  which  were 
not  in  accordance  with  their  wishes  or  their  instructions.  And  as 
the  result  of  their  deliberations,  at  their  meeting  in  September, 
1811,  the  Board  felt  constrained  to  express,  in  a  paternal  but  de- 
cided manner,  their  views  of  their  official  responsibilities  and  pre- 
rogatives; and  to  communicate  their  expectations  and  requirements 
in  regard  to  every  one  who  should  be  under  their  direction  and 
Bupervision."  —  Mr.  Judson  himself  says,  of  this  conditional  ar- 
rangement with  the  London  society,  "that  the   Board  considered 


THE    DOOR    OPENED.  '  75 

Signs  of  a  happy  issue  soon  justified  the  decision 
of  the  committee.  Providence  smiled  on  the  work 
of  faith  and  labor  of  love.  Before  the  appointed  time 
for  sailing  arrived,  a  new  opening  occurred,  by  which 
a  part  of  the  missionaries  were  permitted  to  take  pas- 
sage in  the  ship  Caravan,  from  the  port  of  Salem.  This 
circumstance,  connected  with  the  providential  deten- 
tion of  both  vessels,  in  their  respective  ports,  some  two 
weeks  longer  than  was  expected,  gave  an  extraordinary 
impulse  to  the  missionary  spirit  at  these  two  important 
points.  In  the  words  of  the  Secretary's  Report :  "  The 
Lord  made  it  to  be  remembered,  that  the  silver  and  the 
gold  are  his.  The  hearts  of  the  people  were  wonder- 
fully opened ;  money  flowed  in  from  all  quarters  ;  and 
by  the  time  The  Caravan  sailed,  the  committee  were 

the  very  proposal  of  such  a  measure  disrespectful."  But  how 
could  it  be  regarded  as  any  violation  of  their  "  instructions,"  when 
•  it  was  expressly  recognized  as  a  conditional  alternative,  in  Dr.  W.'s 
letter  to  the  secretary  of  the  London  society,  as  quoted  above,  p.  73  ? 
Mr.  Judson  says,  (Letter  to  his  Father,  p.  6,)  "  I  received  instructions 
from  the  London  society,  addressed  to  me  and  my  associates,  to 
be  used  at  our  option."  The  London  society  evidently  supposed 
that,  in  giving  these  instructions,  they  were  acting  in  accordance 
with  the  wishes  of  the  American  Board,  as  conveyed  to  them 
through  its  secretary.  The  assertion  that  the  London  Board,  with 
the  letters  of  Dr.  \V.  before  them,  formed  any  connection  with 
Mr.  Judson  and  his  l  in    violation  of  the  just  claims  and 

prerogatives  of  the  American  Board,  is  a  graver  charge  against  that 
venerable  body,  than  against  the  young  man  who  accepted  their 
commission,  conditionally,  and  subject  to  the  action  of  the  Ameri- 
can Board. 


76  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

able  to  meet  all  the  expenses  of  fitting  out  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  to  advance  for  them  a  whole  year's 
salary.  In  addition  to  this,  collections  were  made  at 
Philadelphia  during  the  same  time,  and  delivered  to  the 
brethren  who  sailed  from  that  port,  to  such  an  amount, 
as  to  make  the  whole  which  was  paid  to  the  mission- 
aries in  advance,  equal  to  their  stipulated  salary  for  a 
year  and  a  quarter  nearly.  —  Within  about  three 
weeks,  reckoning  from  the  commencement  of  the  special 
arrangements,  more  than  six  thousand  dollars  were 
collected  for  the  mission." 


.     CHAPTER  VH. 

CHOICE    OF   A    WIFE. 

Mr.  Jcdson's  visit  to  Bradford,  in  June  of  1810, 
was  destined  to  exert,  in  more  than  one  way,  a  leading 
influence  both  on  his  own  life  and  on  the  history  of 
missions.  He  there  met,  for  the  first  time,  with  Ann 
Hasseltine,  then  at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  To  judge  by 
her  appearance  after  fourteen  years'  exposure  to  the 
severest  hardship!  and  privations,  under  the  debilitating 
climate  of  India,  she  must  have  been,  at  this  earlier  age, 
singularly  brilliant  and  attractive.  A  clear  olive  skin, 
glowing  with  the  rich  hues  of  healthful  youth,  harmo- 
nized well  with  the  jetty  hair,  which  fell  in  natural 
ringlets  around  her  face,  and  with  the  sparkling,  intel- 
ligent black  eye ;  while  the  movements  of  her  fine 
figure  were  full  of  native  dignity  and  grace.  The 
serious,  thoughtful  air,  with  which  piety  had  tempered 
her  excessive  natural  vivacity,  and  the  grand  themes 
on  which  her  musical  voice  chiefly  found  utterance,  were 
not  likely  to  diminish  her  natural  attractions  in  the  eyes 


78  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

of  a  reflecting  man.  It  does  not  appear  that  Mr.  Jud- 
son  was  at  this  time  in  search  of  a  wife,  or,  indeed,  that 
he  had  ever  contemplated  marriage  as  .a  necessary  pre- 
liminary to  missionary  life.  On  the  contrary,  we  should 
infer  from  his  first  application  to  the  London  society, 
written  only  two  months  before  he  saw  Miss  Hasseltine, 
that  his  expectation  then  was  to  enter  on  his  work  as  a 
single  man.  And  he  would,  without  doubt,  have  done 
so,  had  he  not  met  with  a  woman,  whose  personal 
qualities  answered  every  demand  of  his  mind  and  heart ; 
whose  appearance  and  manners  satisfied  his  refined 
taste,  and  whose  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious  traits 
promised  genial  companionship  for  his  home,  and  per- 
fect sympathy  in  his  great  work. 

To  some  it  may  seem  trivial  to  attach  the  least  im- 
portance, in  forming  such  a  connection,  to  any  qualities 
but  piety  and  missionary  zeal.  But  a  man  does  not 
lose  his  tastes,  his  culture,  his  affections,  by  becoming 
a  missionary.  Whatever  attractive  and  endearing  qual- 
ities in  a  wife  would  be  essential  to  his  happiness, 
among  the  refinements  of  a  Christian  land,  cannot  cer- 
tainly be  more  easily  spared,  amidst  the  rudeness  and 
loathsomeness  of  heathenism.  To  forego  these,  for  the 
sake  of  obtaining  merely  a  useful  co-laborer,  would  be 
to  form  a  partnership  rather  than  a  marriage. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  loftier  qualities  of  forti- 


CHOICE    OP   A   WIFE.  79 

tude,  self-reliance,  and  strength  of  purpose,  the  absence 
of  which  might  scarcely  be  felt  at  home,  are  absolutely 
indispensable  in  the  wife  of  a  pioneer  missionary 
Many  a  good  and  lovely  woman,  whose  gentle  virtues 
are  the  ornament  of  refined  society,  is  yet  by  nature 
and  by  education  utterly  unfitted  for  such  a  life  of  hard- 
ship, vicissitude,  and  danger.  Mr.  Judson  was  fully 
aware  of  the  nature  of  the  work  he  had  undertaken. 
His  first  romantic  daydreams  of  missionary  life  had 
sobered  into  a  clear,  calm  appreciation  of  its  real  char- 
acter. He  saw  before  him  poverty,  sickness,  toil,  con- 
tact with  the  most  repulsive  forms  of  wretchedness  and 
sin,  persecution,  and  probably  an  early  grave.  He 
could  not  be  guilty  of  the  folly  and  the  cruelty,  of  ask- 
ing a  refined  and  sensitive  woman  to  share  a  lot  like 
this,  unless  she,  too,  had  a  soul  capable  of  unlimited 
devotion  and  self-sacrifice  to  duty ;  and  of  a  living  en- 
thusiasm, which  could  count  all  sacrifice  and  suffer- 
ing as  nothing,  in  comparison  with  the  glorious  end  to 
be  attained.  He,  therefore,  did  not  yield  hastily  to  the 
I  \  orable  impression.  Naturally  susceptible,  ardent, 
tnd  Imaginative,  even  beyond  most  young  men  of 
twenty-three,  he  took  counsel  with  reason  and  principle, 
before  committing  himself  to  this  sacred  and  indis- 
soluble connection.  A  more  intimate  acquaintance 
convinced  him  that  he  had  not  mistaken  her  character ; 


80  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

and  sometime  in  the  autumn  of  1810,  he  made  her  an 
offer  of  his  hand.  In  doing  this,  he  exhibited  that 
manly  and  Christian  sincerity,  and  sense  of  honor,  which 
were  marked  features  in  his  entire  history.  Instead  of 
seeking  to  win  a  favorable  answer,  by  a  flattering  picture 
of  missionary  life,  he  spread  it  before  her  just  as  he 
himself  saw  it ;  and  simply  asked,  whether,  for  the  love 
of  Christ,  and  of  perishing  humanity,  she  were  willing 
to  share  it  with  him. 

Her  answer  was  given  with  the  same  reference  to  the 
highest  principles  of  truth  and  duty.  After  several 
weeks  of  anxious,  prayerful  self-inquiry,  as  to  her  own 
fitness  for  a  relation  so  peculiarly  responsible  and 
sacred,  this  noble  young  woman  resolved  to  forsake 
home,  and  friends,  and  country,  and  accompany  him,  as 
his  true  wife  and  helper,  on  his  errand  of  mercy. 

Is  there  not  something  singularly  touching,  nay, 
sublime,  in  this  spectacle  of  two  young  persons,  in  the 
fulness  of  life  and  hope,  with  every  personal  and  in- 
tellectual gift  to  insure  a  brilliant  position  in  society, 
thus  pledging  themselves  to  each  other,  under  the  eye 
of  God,  for  a  life  of  self-denial,  in  furtherance  of  the 
eternal  interests  of  their  race!  Even  now,  in  the 
changed  circumstances  of  the  world  and  of  missionary 
life,  it  would  be  no  light  trial.  What,  then,  must  have 
been  the  independence  and  strength  of  mind,  and  how 


CHOICE    OF   A   WIFE.  81 

fervent  the  piety,  which  could  resolve  on  such  a  step, 
when  a  mission  to  the  heathen  was  a  doubtful  experiment 
even  to  the  majority  of  good  people,  and  when  the  idea 
of  a  female  missionary  almost  shocked  the  public  sense 
of  propriety !  But  he  who  had  destined  them  to  be 
leaders  in  one  of  the  great  enterprises  of  Christian 
philanthropy,  had  made  them  superior  to  every  con- 
sideration but  that  of  right  and  duty. 

Miss  Hasseltine's  character,  while  in  some  respects 
dissimilar  to  that  of  Mr.  Judson,  was  in  beautiful  har- 
mony with  it.  Both  had  that  sanguine,  hopeful  temper- 
ament, so  necessary  in  their  untried  and  difficult  path, 
which  inclined  them  to  look  always  on  the  bright  side, 
and  to  find,  in  the  darkest  hour,  some  promise  of  a 
happier  future.  Both  had  the  same  heroic  courage  to 
face  danger,  the  same  heroic  fortitude  to  sustain  that 
passive  suffering  which  is  the  hardest  trial  to  active 
spirits ;  both  were  animated  by  "  a  passion  for  souls " 
stronger  than  life  or  than  death.  But  while  his  many- 
sided  nature  continually  presents  new  points  of  interest 
to  the  student  of  his  life ;  and  we  notice  now  here,  now 
there,  a  tendency  to  extremes,  the  very  exuberance  of 
spiritual  vitality  ;  in  her  we  remark,  as  the  prominent 
intellectual  trait,  a  practical  good  sense,  which  guided 
her  so  promptly,  so  truly  in  every  exigency,  as  to 
deserve  a  place  far  above  what  is  commonly  ranked  as 
6 


82  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

talent.  It  was  the  predominance  of  this  trait,  in  con- 
nection with  her  earnest  moral  purpose,  which  stamped 
upon  her  life  such  an  impression  of  beautiful,  we  might 
say  majestic  consistency,  that  we  cannot  point  to  an  act 
in  her  career  with  the  wish  that  it  had  been  otherwise. 
Their  anticipations,  in  prospect  of  a  union  for  life, 
were  not  of  the  kind  which  young  people  are  accustomed 
to  indulge  in.  The  pensive  tone  of  the  following  letter 
from  Mr.  Judson,  in  which  he  wishes  his  Ann  a  happy 
New  Year,  is  such  as  a  man  of  sensibility  would  very 
naturally  take,  in  addressing  the  woman  who  was  about 
to  share  his  uncertain  and  perilous  lot.  But  it  is 
evident,  both  that  he  will  not  and  need  not  use  the 
least  disguise,  in  depicting  to  her  its  uncertainties  and 

perils. 

January  1, 1811.  Thursday  Homing. 
It  is  with  the  utmost  sincerity,  and  with  my  whole  heart, 
that  I  wish  you,  my  love,  a  happy  new  year.  May  it  be  a 
year  in  which  your  walk  will  be  close  with  God ;  your  frame 
calm  and  serene ;  and  the  road  that  leads  you  to  the  Lamb 
marked  with  purer  light.  May  it  be  a  year  in  which  you 
will  have  more  largely  the  spirit  of  Christ,  be  raised  above 
sublunary  things,  and  be  willing  to  be  disposed  of  in  this 
world  just  as  God  shall  please.  As  every  moment  of  the 
year  will  bring  you  nearer  the  end  of  your  pilgrimage,  may 
it  bring  you  nearer  to  God,  and  find  you  more  prepared  to 
hail  the  messenger  of  death  as  a  deliverer  and  a  friend. 
And  now,  since  I  have  begun  to  wish,  I  will  go  on.  May 
this  be  the  year  in  which  you  will  change  your  name ;  in 


CHOICE    OF   A    WIFE.  83 

which  you  will  take  a  final  leave  of  your  relatives  and 
native  land  ;  in  which  you  will  cross  the  wide  ocean,  and 
dwell  on  the  other  side  of  the  world,  among  a  heathen  people. 
AY  hat  a  great  change  will  this  year  probably  effect  in  our 
lives  !  How  very  different  will  be  our  situation  and  em- 
ployment !  If  our  lives  are  preserved  and  our  attempt 
prospered,  we  shall  next  new  year's  day  be  in  India,  and 
perhaps  wish  each  other  a  happy  new  year  in  the  uncouth 
dialect  of  Hindostan  or  Burmah.  We  shall  no  more  see  our 
kind  friends  around  us,  or  enjoy  the  conveniences  of  civil- 
ized life,  or  go  to  the  house  of  God  with  those  that  keep 
holy  day ;  but  swarthy  countenances  will  everywhere  meet 
our  eye,  the  jargon  of  an  unknown  tongue  will  assail  our 
ears,  and  we  shall  witness  the  assembling  of  the  heathen  to 
celebrate  the  worship  of  idol  gods.  We  shall  be  weary  of 
the  world,  and  wish  for  wings  like  a  dove,  that  we  may  fly 
away  and  be  at  rest.  We  shall  probably  experience  seasons 
when  we  shall  be  "  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death." 
We  shall  see  many  dreary,  disconsolate  hours,  and  feel  a 
sinking  of  spirits,  anguish  of  mind,  of  which  now  we  can 
form  little  conception.  O,  we  shall  wish  to  lie  down  and 
die.  And  that  time  may  soon  come.  One  of  us  may  be 
unable  to  sustain  the  heat  of  the  climate  and  the  change  of 
habits ;  and  the  other  may  say,  with  literal  truth,  over  the 
grave  — 

44  By  foreign  hands  thy  dying  eves  were  closed ; 
By  foreign  hands  thy  decent  limbs  composed; 
By  foreign  hands  thy  humble  grave  adorned; " 

but  whether  we  shall  be  honored  and  mourned  by  strangers, 
God  only  knows.     At  least,  either  of  us  will  be  certain  of 
one  mourner.     In  view  of  such  scenes,  shall  we  not  pray  with 
tness,  u  O  lor  an  overcoming  faith,"  &c.  V 

JUDSON. 


84  THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

Mr.  Judson's  union  with  this  high-minded  and  lovely 
woman,  can  scarcely  be  reckoned  as  secondary  in  im- 
portance to  any  other  event  of  his  history.  Its  in- 
fluence upon  his  happiness,  and  upon  the  success  of  his 
great  work,  can  never  be  fully  estimated.  It  spreads 
like  a  vital  element  through  the  whole  history  of  the 
Burman  mission.  In  all  his  wanderings,  sufferings,  and 
labors,  her  strong  yet  serene  spirit  kept  even  flight  with 
his ;  while  in  those  tragic  scenes  at  Ava,  when  thrown 
wholly  on  her  own  resources,  her  constancy,  courage, 
and  wisdom  rise  to  the  point  of  true  moral  sublimity. 
One  of  the  fairest  pages  in  the  annals  of  womanly 
greatness,  is  furnished  by  the  life  of  Ann  Hasseltine 
Judson. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
ordination;  voyage;  change  op  views  on 

BAPTISM. 

On  the  sixth  of  February,  1812,  the  five  missionary 
brethren,  being  assembled  at  Salem,  were  solemnly 
ordained,  and  set  apart  to  the  work  of  preaching  the 
gospd  to  the  heathen.  In  expectation  of  the  imme- 
diate .-ailing  of  The  Caravan,  Mr.  Judson  had,  on  the 
third  of  that  montn,  taken  a  final  leave  of  his  parents, 
and  the  beloved  Plymouth  home,  and,  on  the  5th,  had 
been  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Hasseltine. 

The  ordination  of  these  young  men  excited  the  live- 
liest interest,  not  in  Salem  alone,  but  in  the  whole 
vicinity.  On  the  appointed  day,  throngs  from  all  the 
neighboring  places  mingled,  at  an  early  hour,  with  the 
streams  which  poured  from  every  quarter  of  the  town 
towards  the  Tabernacle  Church.  Many,  doubtless, 
were  brought  thither  merely  by  curiosity,  to  witness 
so  novel  a  spectacle  ;  and  many,  whose  hearts  thrilled 
and  whose  eyes  overflowed  with  Christian  sympathy  at 


86  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

the  affecting  scene,  as  yet  doubted  the  wisdom  of  the 
undertaking,  and  trembled  for  the  issue.  The  services 
of  the  day  were  most  happily  adapted  to  strengthen 
the  faith  of  such,  as  well  as  to  convince  the  mere  cu- 
rious spectator  of  the  divine  reality  of  a  religion 
which  could  produce  practical  results  like  these. 
Even  to  worldly  men,  it  must  have  been  a  scene  of 
moral  sublimity,  when  these  five  noble  youths  kneeled 
to  receive,  "  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,"  the  solemn 
consecration  to  their  work  of  self-denying  love ;  and 
not  less  so,  when  they  stood,  each  with  a  hand  clasped 
by  that  of  a  father  in  the  ministry,  and  received, 
through  the  lips  of  Dr.  Worcester,  the  eloquent  ex- 
pression of  fellowship  as  preachers  and  missionaries 
of  the  cross.  "  The  irrepressible  sighing  and  weeping," 
which  rose  at  times  over  the  silence  of  the  house,  at- 
tested how  deeply  the  heart  of  that  vast  assemblage 
was  moved.  It  was,  indeed,  a  day  long  to  be  remem- 
bered ;  —  an  epoch  day  in  the  history  of  American 
missions.  Through  its  influence,  a  new  impulse  was 
given  to  the  missionary  spirit  in  the  churches  ;  and  the 
sentiment,  so  beautifully  expressed  by  Dr.  Spring,  in 
his  charge,  became  more  and  more  the  feeling  of  the 
Christian  public :  "  No  enterprise  comparable  to  this  has 
been  embraced  by  the  American  Church.  All  others 
retire  before  it,  like  the  stars  before  the  rising  sun." 


VOYAGE.  87 

Both  the  vessels,  in  which  the  missionaries  were  to 
sail,  were  detained  some  two  weeks  beyond  the  ap- 
pointed time,  as  already  mentioned.  But,  on  the  18th 
of  February,  those  who  remained  at  Salem  were  hastily 
summoned  on  board  The  Caravan.  It  was  an  inclem- 
ent winter  day,  not  unlike  that  wherein  The  Mayflower 
discharged  its  precious  freight  on  the  ice-bound  coast 
of  Plymouth,  when  this  little  band  of  youthful  pilgrims 
left  their  native  shores  to  carry  the  knowledge  of  their 
fa  tlur's  God  to  the  pagans  of  distant  Asia.  Nor  Ave  re 
the  two  events  wanting  in  other  points  of  resemblance. 
Both  were  weak  and  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world ;  both  were  destined,  as  the  products  of  great 
moral  principles,  to  unfold  in  vital  changes  upon  nations 
nn<l  empires,  and  to  become  leading  steps  in  the  world's 
history. 

The  voyage  was  pleasant  and  prosperous,  unmarked 
by  any  striking  incidents.  On  the  17th  of  June,  1812, 
they  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hoogly ;  and  on  the 
18th,  after  a  voyage  of  just  four  months,  landed  at 
Calcutta.  Here  they  were  met  and  welcomed  to  India 
by  the  venerable  Dr.  Carey,  who  the  next  day  took 
th< m  up  the  river,  fifteen  miles,  to  Serampore,  where 
the  whole  Mission  family  received  them  with  every 
mark  of  Christian  affection. 


88  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

The  quiet  and  leisure  of  the  voyage  had  naturally 
been  much  employed  by  Mr.  Judson  in  reflection  on 
the  work  he  had  undertaken,  and  which  now  lay  close 
before  him.  In  doing  this,  the  Directions  furnished  to 
the  missionaries  by  the  American  Board,  for  their  con- 
duct in  the  various  relations  into  which  they  would  be 
brought,  in  their  new  field  of  labor,  received  very  spe- 
cial consideration.  While  following  these  out  in  his 
own  mind  to  their  practical  application,  a  difficulty 
presented  itself  which  he  could  not  satisfactorily  dis- 
pose of. 

By  article  10th  of  the  Directions,  he  found  himself 
required  to  baptize  credible  believers  and  their  house- 
holds, while  it  forbade  the  admission  of  any  but  the 
former  class  to  church-membership.  While  considering 
this  point,  with  reference  to  his  labors  among  the  hea- 
then, he  acknowledged,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  pro- 
priety of  baptizing  those  who  seemed  to  be  true  con- 
verts. But  when  he  proceeded  to  the  next  step,  the 
administration  of  Christian  baptism  to  their  still  idola- 
trous households,  there  was  something  in  this  from 
which  he  instinctively  recoiled.  It  seemed  to  him  a 
procedure  which  must  necessarily  confound  the  church 
and  the  world,  idolatry  and  Christianity,  tending  directly 
to  the  establishment  of  a  mere  formal,  national  religion. 
The  inquiry  arose  whether,  if  the  new  covenant  of  the 


CHANGE    OF    VIEWS    ON   BAPTISM.  89 

gospel  was  merely  a  continuation  of  that  made  with 
Abraham,  and  baptism  stood  in  the  place  of  circum- 
cision, consistency  did  not  require  that  all  who  re- 
ceived baptism  should  be  admitted  to  the  full  privi- 
leges, and  subjected  to  the  discipline  of  the  church. 
Had  it  then  been  the  practice,  as  it  now  is  among  the 
Pedobaptists  of  this  country,  to  present  only  their  in- 
fant offspring  at  the  font,  the  difficulty  might  not  have 
struck  his  mind  so  forcibly.  The  chasm  which  must, 
in  such  cases,  separate  the  two  ordinances  of  the  church 
naturally  fosters  the  impression  that  there  is  no  neces- 
sary and  close  connection  between  them.  But  it  was 
th<n  the  custom,  when  persons  who  were  already  heads 
of  families  became  church-members,  to  administer  bap- 
tism to  all  their  children,  often  including  those  who 
were  of  adult  age,  and  sometimes  also  to  the  domestics 
of  the  household.  This,  he  acknowledged,  was  in 
entire  consistency  with  the  Abrahamic  theory;  but  on 
what  grounds  could  such  be  excluded  from  the  Lord's 
Supper,  which  was  the  substitute  for  the  Passover  ? 
This  was,  indeed,  no  new  question  among  New  Eng- 
land divines,  some  of  whom  had  earnestly  advocated  a 
more  perfect  conformity  to  the  Old  Testament  model. 
It  was,  as  I  have  been  informed,  the  opinion  of  the 
elder  Dr.  Spring,  that  baptized  children  should  be 
brought  to   the  communion-table  when  twelve   years 


90  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

old ;  and  thereafter  be  subjected  to  church  discipline, 
if  they  did  not  walk  worthily  of  their  profession. 
But  the  subject  had  never  before  engaged  the  particu- 
lar attention  of  Mr.  Judson.  He  was  still  very  young. 
It  was  but  four  years  since  he  had  felt  any  personal 
interest  in  religion  ;  and  since  that  time,  the  one  idea 
of  preaching  Christ  to  the  heathen,  and  the  difficulties 
encountered  in  securing  means  for  this  object,  had 
chiefly  occupied  his  time  and  thoughts.  He  had  never 
had  the  personal  responsibility  of  administering  the 
ordinances  of  the  church  in  a  Christian  land.  He  now 
felt  it  for  the  first  time ;  and  in  connection  with  the 
still  more  fearful  responsibility  of  settling  the  constitu- 
tion of  that  church  for  a  people  who  had  never  before 
heard  of  Christ. 

He  was,  moreover,  about  to  meet  the  Serampore 
missionaries ;  men  who  were  looked  up  to,  by  the 
whole  Christian  world,  with  the  veneration  due  to 
eminence  alike  in  learning  and  piety.  Mr.  Judson  was 
the  bearer  of  a  letter  from  the  corresponding  secretary 
of  the  American  Board,  soliciting  for  him  and  his  as- 
sociates the  kindly  notice  and  aid  of  these  excellent 
men.  In  anticipation  of  soon  being  their  guest,  he 
began  to  ask,  with  some  solicitude,  after  the  arguments 
with  which  he  should  defend  his  denominational  views 
against  their  objections. 


CHANGE    OF    VIEWS    ON    BAPTISM.  91 

These  inquiries  commenced  about  two  months  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  voyage.  The  more  he  examined 
the  subject,  the  more  distrustful  he  became  of  his 
former  belief;  and  he  used  to  say  to  Mrs.  Judson,  that 
he  feared  the  Baptists  were  in  the  right.  This  alarmed 
her  greatly  ;  for  she  saw,  at  a  glance,  the  distressing 
consequences  which  must  result  from  a  change  of  de- 
nominational views.  Believing  it  to  be  a  point  of  no 
vital  importance,  she  endeavored  to  dissuade  him  from 
pursuing  the  investigation.  "  He  always  answered,"  — 
to  use  her  own  words,  —  "  that  his  duty  compelled  him 
to  examine  the  subject ;  and  he  hoped  he  shoul  1  have 
a  disposition  to  embrace  the  truth,  though  he  paid  dear 
for  it." 

He  arrived  in  India  without  having  reached  any 
satisfactory  result.  But  being  providentially  detained 
in  Serampore  and  Calcutta  by  the  delay  of  the  other 
naries,  and  by  difficulties  with  government,  he 
IWIIHOd  his  inquiries.  These  at  length  terminated, 
about  two  months  after  his  arrival,  in  the  conviction 
that  his  former  views  were  founded  on  a  misapprehen- 
sion of  the  nature  of  the  Christian  church.  It  became 
clear  to  his  mind,  that  though  this  was  typified  by  the 
Abrahamie  church,  whirh.  in  various  respects,  prepared 
the  way  for  it,  yet  the  constitutions  of  the  two  were 
radically  different ;    the   one    being   composed   of  the 


92  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

natural  seed  of  Abraham,  without  regard  to  piety  of 
individual  character ;  the  other,  "  a  selective  system, 
acknowledging  none  as  members  of  the  church  but 
such  as  gave  credible  evidence  of  believing  in  Christ." 
He  now  saw  the  reason,  why  he  had  been  unable  to 
find,  in  the  New  Testament,  directions  for  the  baptism 
of  the  unconverted  households  of  believers,  answering 
to  those  of  the  Old  Testament  in  regard  to  circum- 
cision. "  The  more  I  read,"  he  says  in  his  letter,  to 
the  Plymouth  Church,  "  and  the  more  I  meditated  on 
the  subject,  the  more  clearly  it  appeared  to  me  that 
all  my  errors  and  difficulties  had  originated  in  con- 
founding these  two  systems.  I  began  to  see  that  since 
the  very  nature  and  constitution  of  the  church  of 
Christ  excluded  infants  and  unregenerate  domestics, 
repentance  and  faith  being  always  represented  as 
necessary  to  constitute  a  disciple,  we  had  no  right  to 
expect  any  directions  for,  or  any  examples  of  the 
initiation  of  such  unqualified  persons  into  the  church. 
To  search  for  such  directions  and  examples  in  the  New 
Testament,  would  be  as  if  the  citizen  of  a  republic 
should  go  to  search  his  national  code  for  laws  concern- 
ing the  royal  family,  which,  by  the  very  nature  and 
constitution  of  the  republic,  is  excluded.  Suppose  that 
such  a  citizen,  disappointed  in  his  search,  should  have 
recourse  to  the  constitution  and  laws  of  a  neighboring 


CHANGE    OF   VIEWS    ON   BAPTISM.  93 

monarchy  for  the  desired  information.  This,  it  appeared 
to  me,  would  aptly  represent  the  proceeding  of  those, 
who,  unable  to  find  in  the  New  Testament  satisfactory 
proof  of  the  right  of  infants,  or  unregenerate  domestics, 
should  have*  recourse  to  the  Abrahamic  and  Jewish 
codes." 

A  critical  study  of  the  Greek  New  Testament,  in 
connection  with  this  inquiry,  had  led  him  to  doubt  the 
validity  of  sprinkling,  as  a  form  of  baptism  ;  and,  from 
a  careful  examination  of  the  evidence  on  both  sides,  he 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  Ins  former  views  on  this 
subject  were  un scriptural. 

Mr.  Judson  felt,  in  these  convietions,  the  satisfaction 
which  every  candid  mind  must  experience,  when,  after 
laborious  and  anxious  search,  it  attain-  to  the  clear 
apprchcn>ion  of  important  truth.  "I  cannot  describe 
to  you,  dear  brethren."  be  says,  in  the  letter  already 
referred  to,  "the  light  and  satisfaction  which  I  obtained 
in  taking  this  view  of  the  matter ;  in  considering  the 
two  churches  as  distinct,  and  in  classing  my  ideas 
of  each  in  their  proper  place.  I  became  possessed  of 
a  key  that  unlocked  many  a  difficulty  which  had  long 
perplexed  me  ;  and  the  more  I  read  the  Bible,  the 
more  clearly  I  saw  that  this  was  the  true  system  there- 
in revealed." 

But  the  questions  of  practical  duty,  which  immedi- 


94  m&"     THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

ately  ingrafted  themselves  on  these  new  convictions, 
were  in  the  highest  degree  perplexing  and  distressing. 
If,  as  he  now  believed,  the  very  nature  of  the  Christian 
church  precluded  infant  baptism,  and  the  nature  of  the 
rite  precluded  any  form  but  immersion,  what  was  to  be- 
come of  his  own  baptism  in  infancy  ?  He  saw  that  he 
was,  in  a  double  sense,  unbaptized  ;  and  that  the  com- 
mand of  Christ  to  every  believer  was,  in  his  case,  yet 
to  be  obeyed.  But  how  could  he  do  it?  All  the  conse- 
quences which  Mrs.  Judson  had  previously  depicted,  as 
a  check  to  his  inquiries,  spread  out  before  him.  He 
foresaw  the  disappointment,  and  grief,  and  mortification, 
which  it  would  occasion  to  his  parents  and  Christian 
friends  at  home,  his  inevitable  dismission  from  the 
service  of  the  American  Board,  and,  more  grievous  still, 
his  separation  from  those  beloved  missionary  brethren, 
with  whom  he  had  hoped  to  spend  his  days  in  labor  for 
Christ.  He  asked  himself  whether,  under  circum- 
stances so  peculiar,  some  dispensation  from  the  strict- 
ness of  the  command  might  not  be  admissible.  But 
the  question  instantly  came  back  upon  him:  How, 
then,  am  I  to  treat  the  children  and  domestics  of 
converted  heathen?  This,  as  he  aptly  expresses  it, 
was  the  "  Gordian  knot,"  whose  "  gripe "  he  heartily 
wishes  that  his  brethren  at  home,  when  passing  judg- 
ment on  his  case,  could  feel  as  he  did. 


CHANGE    OF    VIEWS    ON    BAPTISM.  (J5 

Till  within  a  few  weeks  of  this  decision,  he  had 
found  no  one  to  sympathize  with  his  inquiries,  though 
tlicv  had  heen  a  frequent  subject  of  discussion  between 
him  and  his  missionary  associates.  At  length,  Mrs. 
Judson  felt  constrained  to  examine,  once  more,  what 
the  Bible  said  in  regard  to  bunt  ism ;  and  the  prayerful 
search  soon  brought  her  to  the  same  conclusion  with 
her  husband. 

Accordingly,  on  the  6th  of  September,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Judson  were  immersed  in  the  Baptist  Chapel  at  Cal- 
cutta; an  event  which  changed  the  whole  complexion 
of  their  lives,  and  ultimately  resulted  in  a  signal  en- 
largement of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  in  India. 

In  taking  this  step,  Mr.  Judson  had  acted  with  per- 
fect simplicity  and  singleness  of  heart.  lie  knew  that 
there  was  no  organization  among  American  Baptists, 
to  which  he  could  appeal  for  support;  he  was  person- 
ally a  stranger  to  the  denomination,  and  his  hopes  of 
adequate  aid,  in  that  direction,  must  have  been  very 
faint.  He  had  not  prudently  ascertained,  beforehand, 
whether  he  could  rely  upon  the  patronage  of  the  Ser- 
ampore  Mission ;  and  indeed,  in  the  event,  this  was 
found  to  be  out  of  the  question.  He  and  his  devoted 
wife  then  anticipated  as  not  improbable,  the  necessity 
of  taking  up  their  residence  alone  in  some  isolated 
spot,  and  of  supporting  themselves  by  their  own  labor, 


96  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

while  prosecuting  their  missionary  work.  He 'had  cast 
himself  implicitly  on  Divine  Providence ;  and  now 
stood  waiting  to  see  what  God  would  do  for  him. 

Immediately,  on  coming  to  his  decision,  he  had  made 
a  communication  on  the  subject  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
American  Board ;  and,  by  the  advice  of  the  Serampore 
missionaries,  also  addressed  letters  to  Dr.  Baldwin 
and  Mr.  Bolles,  offering  his  services  to  the  Baptist 
Christians  of  America,  should  they  be  disposed  to  form 
a  society  for  supporting  missions  in  the  East.  His 
letter  to  Mr.  Bolles,  of  Salem,  with  whom  he  had  a 
slight  personal  acquaintance,  will  be  read  with  interest 
as  giving  a  picture  of  his  situation  and  feelings  at  this 
time. 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bolles,  Salem,  Mass. 

Calcutta,  September  1,  1812. 

Rev.  Sir:  I  recollect  that,  during  a  short  interview  I 
had  with  you  in  Salem,  I  suggested  the  formation  of  a 
society  among  the  Baptists  in  America  for  the  support  of 
foreign  missions,  in  imitation  of  the  exertions  of  your  Eng- 
lish brethren.  Little  did  I  then  expect  to  be  personally  con- 
cerned in  such  an  attempt. 

Within  a  few  months,  I  have  experienced  an  entire 
change  of  sentiments  on  the  subject  of  baptism.  My  doubts 
concerning  the  correctness  of  my  former  system  of  belief 
commenced  during  my  passage  from  America  to  this  coun- 
try ;  and  after  many  painful  trials,  which  none  can  know 
but  those  who  are  taught  to  relinquish  a  system  in  which 


CHANGE    OF    VIEWS    ON    BAPTISM.  97 

they  had  been  educated,  I  settled  down  in  the  full  persuasion 
that  the  immersion  of  a  professing  believer  in  Christ  is  the 
only  Christian  baptism. 

Mrs.  Judson  is  united  with  me  in  this  persuasion.  We 
have  signified  our  views  and  wishes  to  the  Baptist  mission- 
aries at  Serampore,  and  expect  to  be  baptized  in  this  city 
next  Lord's  day. 

A  separation  from  my  missionary  brethren,  and  a  dissolu- 
tion of  my  connection  with  the  Board  of  Commissioners 
seem  to  be  necessary  consequences.  The  missionaries  at 
Serampore  are  exerting  themselves  to  the  utmost  of  their 
ability  in  managing  and  supporting  their  extensive  and  com- 
plii -ati'd  mission. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  look  to  you.  Alone,  in  this 
foreign  heathen  land,  I  mal&e  ray  appeal  to  those  whom,  with 
their  permission,  I  will  call  mij  Baptist  brethren  in  the  United 


With  the  advice  of  the  brethren  at  Serampore,  I  am  con- 
templating a  mission  on  one  of  the  eastern  islands.  They 
hare  lately  sent  their  brother  Cliater  to  Ceylon,  and  their 
brother  Robinson  to  Java.  At  present,  Amboyna  seems  to 
present  the  most  favorable  opening.  Fifty  thousand  souls 
are  there  perishing  without  the  means  of  life  ;  and  the  situa- 
tion of  the  island  is  such  that  a  mission  there  established 
might,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  be  extended  to  the  neigh- 
boring islands  in  those  seas. 

Btri  should  I  go  thither,  it  is  a  most  painful  reflection  that 
I  must  go  alone,  and  also  uncertain  of  the  means  of  support. 
But  I  will  trust  in  (Jod.  He  has  frequently  enabled  me  to 
praise  his  divine  goodness,  and  will  never  forsake  those  who 
put  their  trust  in  him.     I  am,  dear  sir, 

Yours,  in  the  Lord  Jesus, 

Adoniram  Judson,  Jr. 
7 


98  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter,  written  on  be- 
half of  the  Serampore  missionaries,  by  Dr.  Marshman, 
which  accompanied  those  of  Mr.  Judson,  is  too  beauti- 
ful in  its  spirit,  and  too  interesting  a  testimonial  of  the 
impression  which  he  had  made  on  these  excellent  and 
discerning  men,  to  be  withheld  from  the  reader. 

Extract  from  a  Letter  of  Dr.  Marshman,  of  Serampore,  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  of  Boston,  dated  September  1,  1812. 

A  note  which  brother  Judson  sent  to  brother  Carey  last 
Saturday  has  occasioned  much  reflection  among  us.  In  it 
he  declares  his  belief  that  believers'  baptism  alone  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  Scriptures,  and  requests  to  be  baptized  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

This  unexpected  circumstance  seems  to  suggest  many 
ideas.  The  change  in  the  young  man's  mind,  respecting  this 
ordinance  of  Christ,  seems  quite  the  effect  of  divine  truth 
operating  on  the  mind.  It  began  when  no  Baptist  was  near, 
(on  board  ship,)  and  when  he,  in  the  conscientious  discharge 
of  his  duty,  was  examining  the  subject  in  order  to  maintain 
what  he  then  deemed  truth  on  his  arrival  in  Bengal.  And 
so  carefully  did  he  conceal  the  workings  of  his  mind  from  us, 
on  his  arrival,  that  he  scarcely  gave  us  a  hint  respecting 
them  before  he  sent  this  note  to  brother  Carey.  This  was 
not  indeed  very  difficult  for  him  to  do,  as  we  make  it  a  point 
to  guard  against  obtruding  on  missionary  brethren  of  dif- 
ferent sentiments  any  conversation  relative  to  baptism. 

This  change  then,  which  I  believe  few  who  knew  brother 
Judson  will  impute  to  whim,  or  to  any  thing  besides  sincere 
conviction,  seems  to  point  out  something  relative  to  the  duty 
of  our  Baptist  brethren  with  you,  as  it  relates  to  the  cause 
of  missions.     It  can  scarcely  be  expected  that  the  Board  of 


CHANGE    OF    VIEWS    ON    BAPTISM.  99 

Commissioners  will  support  a  Baptist  missionary,  who  can- 
not, of  course  comply  with  their  instructions,  and  baptize 
tchole  households  on  the  parents'  faith  ;  and  it  is  certain  that 
the  young  man  ought  not  to  be  left  to  perish  for  want, 
merely  because  he  loved  the  truth  more  than  father  or 
mother ;  nor  be  compelled  to  give  up  missionary  work  for 
want  of  support  therein.  Now,  though  we  should  certainly 
interfere  to  prevent  a  circumstance  like  this  happening,  par- 
ticularly as  we  have  given  our  Pedobaptist  brother  Newell, 
gone  to  the  Isle  of  France,  an  order  to  draw  there  upon 
us  should  he  bo  in  distress,  yet,  to  say  nothing  of  the  mis- 
sionary concerns  already  lying  on  us,  and  constantly  enlarg- 
ing, it  seems  as  though  Providence  itself  were  raising  up  this 
young  man,  that  you  might  at  least  partake  of  the  zeal  of 
our  Congregational  missionary  brethren  around  you.  I 
would  wish,  then,  that  you  should  share  in  the  glorious  work, 
by  supporting  him.  Let  us  do  whatsoever  things  are  6c- 
coinintj,  and  whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  and  leave  the 
reverse  of  these  for  others.  After  God  has  thus  given  you 
a  missionary  of  your  own  nation,  faith,  and  order,  without 
the  help  or  knowledge  of  man,  let  me  entreat  you,  and  Dr. 
Messcr,  and  brethren  Bolles  and  Moriarty,  humbly  to  accept 
the  gift. 

To  you  I  am  sure  I  need  add  no  more  than  to  beg  you  to 
give  my  cordial  love  to  all  your  brethren  around  you. 

I  may  probably  write  you  again  soon,  and  in  the  mean 
time  remain  yours,  in  the  Lord, 

Joshua  Marshman. 

The  long  period  of  suspense,  which  followed  this 
application,  must  have  been  extremely  trying  to  the 
young  missionaries ;  but  it  was,  without  doubt,  the 
means  of  maturing  their  Christian  graces,  and  fitting 


100  THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

them  for  richer  usefulness.  They  had  the  satisfaction, 
a  few  weeks  after  their  baptism,  to  be  joined  by  Mr. 
Rice,  who  had  also  been  led  to  an  examination  and 
abandonment  of  his  previous  denominational  views. 
Still,  the  feeling  of  isolation,  the  uncertainty  of  their 
future  prospects,  and  the  consciousness  of  having  lost 
the  affection  and  confidence  of  their  best  beloved 
brethren  at  home,  were  often  exquisitely  painful.  It 
is  a  cheering  indication  of  the  progress  in  brotherly 
love  and  mutual  respect,  among  American  Christians, 
that  we  can  now  hardly  understand  the  apprehensions, 
expressed  by  Mrs.  Judson,  on  the  latter  of  these  points. 
What  was  there,  thousands  will  at  this  day  be  ready  to 
ask,  in  such  a  conscientious  change  of  views,  which 
should  alienate  the  heart  of  one  disciple  from  another, 
who  was  one  with  him  still  in  the  faith,  the  patience, 
the  work,  and  the  immortal  hopes  of  the  gospel. 

From  Mrs.  Judson  to  a  Friend. 

September,  7, 1812 

Can  you,  my  dear  Nancy,  still  love  me,  still  desire  to  hear 
from  me,  when  I  tell  you  I  have  become  a  Baptist  ?  If  I 
judge  from  my  own  feelings,  I  answer,  you  will,  and  that  my 
differing  from  you  in  those  things  which  do  not  affect  our 
salvation  will  not  diminish  your  affection  for  me,  or  make 
you  unconcerned  for  my  welfare.  You  may,  perhaps,  think 
this  change  very  sudden,  as  I  have  said  nothing  of  it  before  ; 
but,  my  dear  girl,  this  alteration  hath  not  been  the  work  of 


CHANGE    OF   VIEWS    ON    BAPTISM.  101 

an  hour,  a  day,  or  a  month.     The  subject  has  been  maturely, 
candidly,  and,  I  hope,  prayerfully  examined  for  months. 

An  examination  of  the  subject  of  baptism  commenced  on 
board  Tin-  Caravan.  As  Mr.  Judson  was  continuing  the 
translation  of  the  New  Testament,  which  he  began  in 
America,  he  had  many  doubts  respecting  the  meanfng  of 
the  word  baptize.  This,  with  the  idea  of  meeting  the  Baptists 
at  Serampore,  when  he  would  wish  to  defend  his  own  senti- 
ments, induced  a  more  thorough  examination  of  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Pedobaptist  system.  The  more  he  examined,  the 
more  his  doubts  increased  ;  and,  unwilling  as  he  was  to 
admit  it,  he  was  afraid  the  Baptists  were  right  and  he 
wrong.  After  we  arrived  at  Calcutta,  his  attention  was 
turned  from  this  subject  to  the  concerns  of  the  mission,  and 
the  difficulties  with  government.  But  as-  his  mind  was  still 
uneasy,  he  again  renewed  the  subject.  I  felt  afraid  he 
would  become  a  Baptist,  and  frequently  urged  the  unhappy 
«  it'  he  should.  But  he  said  his  duty  compelled 
him  to  satisfy  his  own  mind,  and  embrace  those  sentiments 
which  appeared  most  concordant  with  Scripture.  I  always 
took  the  Pedobaptist  tide  in  reasoning  with  him,  even  after 
I  was  as  doubtful  of  the  truth  of  their  system  as  he.  We 
left  Serampore  to  reside  in  Calcutta  a  week  or  two,  before 
the  arrival  of  our  brethren;  and  as  we  had  nothing  in  par- 
ticular to  occupy  our  attention,  we  confined  it  exclusively  to 
this  subject.  We  procured  the  best  authors  on  both  sides, 
compared  them  with  the  Scriptures,  examined  and  reex- 
amined the  sentiments  of  Baptists  and  Pedobaptists,  and 
were  finally  compelled,  from  a  conviction  of  truth,  to  em- 
brace those  of  the  former.  Thus,  my  dear  Nancy,  we  are 
confirmed  Baptists,  not  because  we  wished  to  be,  but  because 
truth  compelled  us  to  be.  We  have  endeavored  to  count 
the  cost,  and  be  prepared  for  the  many  severe  trials  result- 
ing from  this  change  of  sentiment     We  anticipate  the  loss 


102  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

of  reputation,  and  of  the  affection  and  esteem  of  many  of 
our  American  friends.  But  the  most  trying  circumstance 
attending  this  change,  and  that  which  has  caused  most  pain, 
is  the  separation  which  must  take  place  between  us  and  our 
dear  missionary  associates.  Although  we  are  attached  to 
each 'other,  and  should  doubtless  live  very -happily  together, 
yet  the  brethren  do  not  think  it  best  we  should  unite  in  one 
mission.  These  things,  my  dear  Nancy,  have  caused  us  to 
weep  and  pour  out  our  hearts  in  prayer  to  Him  whose  direc- 
tion we  so  much  wish  and  need.  We  feel  that  we  are  alone 
in  the  world,  with  no  real  friend  but  each  other,  no  one  on 
whom  we  can  depend  but  God. 

Extract  from  a  Letter  to  her  Parents. 

"  It  was  extremely  trying  to  reflect  on  the  consequences 
of  our  becoming  Baptists.  We  knew  it  would  wound  and 
grieve  our  dear  Christian  friends  in  America  —  that  we 
should  lose  their  approbation  and  esteem.  We  thought  it 
probable  the  commissioners  would  refuse  to  support  us  ;  and, 
what  was  more  distressing  than  any  thing,  we  knew  we  must 
be  separated  from  our  missionary  associates,  and  go  alone  to 
some  heathen  land.  These  things  were  very  trying  to  us, 
and  caused  our  hearts  to  bleed  for  anguish.  We  felt  we  had 
no  home  in  this  world,  and  no  friend  but  each  other." 

Their  perplexity  and  distress  were  greatly  increased 
by  the  treatment  which  they  received  from  the  officers 
of  the  English  East  India  Company  ;  who  refused  to 
allow  them  to  conduct  a  mission,  or  even  to  reside  tem- 
porarily within  their  territories.  They  lived  in  the 
perpetual  apprehension  of  being  forcibly  carried  to 
England,  and  thus  compelled  to  abandon,  forever,  the 


CHANGE    OF   VIEWS    ON   BAPTISM.  103 

field  of  missionary  labor.  Under  these  circumstances, 
it  was  their  most  anxious  wish  to  escape  from  the 
tyranny  of  this  great  power,  into  "  some  isolated  spot, 
where  they  might  support  themselves  by  the  labor  of 
their  own  hands,"  while  communicating  to  the  degraded 
ii  the  tidings  of  a  Saviour.  How  different  is  the 
state  of  things  in  our  day,  when  the  shadow  of  the 
British  flag  is  the  refuge,  not  the  terror,  of  the  Christian 
philanthropist ;  when  in  every  spot  where  England 
sets  her  mighty  foot,  there  the  peaceful  banner  of  the 
gospel  may  unfold,  as  freely  as  on  the  green  hills  of 
her  native  island ! 

The  story  of  their  trials  and  wanderings,  during  this 
period,  will  be  briefly  given  in  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PERSECUTION   BY   THE   EAST    INDIA    COMPANY. 

The  East  India  Company  had,  as  a  body,  never  been 
favorable  to  the  spread  of  the  gospel  in  India.  Even 
the  Society's  own  chaplains,  clergymen  of  the  Church 
of  England,  were  not  allowed  to  preach  to  the  natives, 
or  ,to  do  any  thing  directly  for  their  conversion.  This 
caution  was  based,  professedly,  on  a  conscientious  regard 
to  the  religious  rights  guaranteed  to  the  various  idola- 
trous nations  under  British  sway  ;  which,  it  was  argued, 
would  be  infringed  by  all  attempts  to  undermine  their 
ancient  faith.  But  the  fact  that  the  Company  derived 
a  large  annual  revenue  from  a  direct  tax  on  idolatry, 
and  that  it  also  opened,  in  various  ways,  a  market  to 
English  merchandise,  affords  a  much  more  reliable  clue 
to  their  true  motives.  Of  the  myriads  of  pilgrims,  who 
collected  from  all  parts  of  India,  to  the  yearly  festival 
of  Juggernaut,  —  the  aged,  the  sick,  the  poor,  the  women 
and  children,  who  had  dragged  their  weary  limbs  hun- 
dreds and  thousands  of  miles,  under  the  burning  sun  of 


PERSECUTION   BY   THE   EAST   INDIA    COMPANY.    105 

India,  to  worship  the  god  in  whom  they  trusted, —  not 
one  was  allowed  to  enter  the  sacred  precincts,  till  he  had 
paid  for  the  privilege  a  sum  of  money  to  his  English 
masters.  The  collectorship  of  the  pilgrim's  tax,  and 
the  superintendence  of  the  temple,  was  a  regular  office 
under  government.  To  this  must  be  added,  the  general 
dissoluteness  of  manners  then  prevailing  among  the 
British  residents  of  India,  to  which  the  horrible  licen- 
tiousness, sanctioned  by  Hindoo  idolatry,  was  far  more 
congenial  than  the  austere  virtue  enjoined  by  Christian- 
ity. Persons  who  viewed,  with  indifference,  the  hellish 
orgies  of  the  worship  of  Juggernaut,  the  self-immola- 
tion of  devotees,  and  the  burning  of  widows,  were  yet 
fired  with  righteous  indignation  at  the  scheme  of  trans- 
lating the  Holy  Scriptures  into  the  native  tongues.  The 
idea  seems,  moreover,  to  have  been  generally  enter- 
tained, that  a  knowledge  of  Christianity  would  render 
the  natives  less  passive  and  manageable,  and  would 
thereby  endanger  the  interests  and  safety  of  the  Com- 
pany. That  noble-hearted  philanthropist,  Claudius 
Buchanan,  had  to  contend,  both  in  his  efforts  for  his 
own  countrymen  and  for  the  heathen,  against  the  whole 
Ctfrrent  of  British  life  and  opinion  in  India.  It  could 
not  be  expected  that  sectaries,  as  all  dissenters  from  the 
English  Church  were  considered,  would  meet  with  more 
favor.    The  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore  often 


106  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

felt  the  heavy  hand  of  government.  Americans  could 
not  plead  even  the  claim  of  their  English  brethren  to 
toleration,  and  were  especially  liable  at  this  time,  when 
the  relations  of  the  two  governments  at  home  were  so 
unfriendly,  to  suspicion  and  hard  treatment.  Hatred 
to  the  gospel  found  a  ready  cloak  in  national  hostility. 

Scarcely  ten  days  after  the  arrival  of  Messrs.  Judson 
and  Newell,  in  India,  they  were  recalled  by  a  govern- 
mental summons,  from  the  hospitable  Mission  Home  in 
Serampore,  to  Calcutta.  Here,  an  order  was  read  to 
them,  requiring  their  immediate  return  to  America  in 
the  ship  which  brought  them  out.  They  begged  to  be 
allowed  to  settle  in  some  other  part  of  India ;  but  re- 
ceived in  answer  an  absolute  prohibition  of  residence  in 
the  Company's  territories,  or  any  of  its  dependencies. 
They  then  requested  leave  to  go  to  the  Isle  of  France, 
which  was  permitted.  It  was  not  till  near  the  1st  of 
August  that  a  vessel  was  found  sailing  thither,  and  this 
could  afford  passage  only  for  two  persons.  The  pre- 
cedence being  very  properly  given  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Newell,  on  account  of  the  health  of  the  latter,  which 
required  the  comfort  and  quiet  of  a  home,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Judson  were  obliged  to  wait  for  another  opportu- 
nity. A  few  days  after,  The  Harmony  arrived,  with  the 
rest  of  the  missionaries,  and  as  every  other  opening 
then  seemed  closed,  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  pro- 


PERSECUTION    BY   THE    EAST    INDIA    COMPANY.    107 

ceed,  in  a  body,  to  the  Isle  of  France.  Circumstances, 
however,  induced  Messrs.  Hall  and  Nott  to  alter  their 
determination,  and  attempt  a  mission  in  Bombay;  so 
that  Mr.  Bice  alone  remained  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jud- 
son.  But  before  either  party  were  able  to  leave  Ben- 
gal, the  change  already  described  in  the  views  of  the 
three  latter,  in  regard  to  baptism,  had  made  a  still  more 
painful  separation  between  the  members  of  this  devoted 
little  band,  which,  in  the  judgment  of  all,  rendered  a 
further  missionary  connection  inexpedient. 

While  waiting  for  a  vessel  bound  to  the  Isle  of 
France,  Mr.  Judson's  mind  was  anxiously  engaged  in 
considering  other  fields  of  labor.  Burmah,  the  original 
it  ion  of  the  mission,  had  early  been  given  up. 
xrampore  brethren,  after  having  expended  some 
ten  thousand  dollars  in  attempting  an  establishment  in 
that  empire,  were  about  relinquishing  it  as  totally  im- 
practicable. The  London  Missionary  Society  had  been 
equally  unsuccessful.  Mr.  Nott  wrote  from  Bengal  to 
a  friend  :  "  The  Burman  Empire  seems  at  present  out  of 
the  question."  Mrs.  Newell  remarks,  in  her  journal: 
"  We  cannot  feel  that  we  are  called  in  Providence  to 
go  to  lmnnah.  Every  account  we  have  from  that 
,  barbarous  nation,  confirms  us  in  our  opinion 
that  the  way  is  not  prepared  for  the  spread  of  the  gos- 
pel there."     But  so  inviting  was  this  field,  could  a 


108  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

foothold  once  be  obtained,  that  when  all  the  others  had 
relinquished  the  thought  of  going  to  Burmah,  Mr. 
Judson  still  clung  to  it.  The  glowing  pictures  of  Col. 
Symmes,  which  had  excited  his  youthful  fancy,  had 
indeed  given  place  to  far  different  views  of  Burman 
life  and  character ;  and,  so  far  as  personal  comfort  and 
happiness  were  concerned,  even  he  had  come  to  look 
upon  a  residence  there  "  with  feelings  of  horror." 
But  there  was  a  peculiar  attraction  to  him  in  the  fact, 
that  there  existed  no  translation  of  the  Scriptures  in 
the  Burmese  language.  His  distinguished  attainments 
as  a  linguist  had  already  marked  him  out,  in  America, 
as  a  translator  of  the  Bible  for  some  Pagan  nation  ; 
and  he  was  conscious  of  an  adaptation  of  mind  to  this 
object.  But  the  time  was  not  yet  ripe  for  him  to  enter 
Burmah.  Under  date  of  Sept.  19, 1812,  Mrs.  Judson 
writes  to  a  friend  :  "  We  had  almost  concluded  to  go 
to  the  Burman  Empire,  when  we  heard  that  there  were 
fresh  difficulties  existing  between  the  English  and  the 
Burman  government.  If  these  difficulties  are  settled, 
I  think  it  probable  we  shall  go  there."  Meanwhile,  he 
turned  his  attention  to  other  fields.  Japan,  Ceylon, 
Java,  Amboyna,*  and  finally  South  America,  were  suc- 
cessively thought  of.  The  Isle  of  France  had  a  pecu- 
liar interest,  from  the  hope  of  extending  the  mission  to 

*  One  of  the  Moluccas. 


PERSECUTION   BY   THE    EAST    INDIA    COMPANY.    109 

the  great  and  populous  island  of  Madagascar.  But 
while  still  deliberating,  and  looking  for  an  opening,  the 
government  brought  him  to  a  sudden  decision.  Towards 
the  close  of  November,  another  order  was  received  by 
Messrs.  Judson  and  Rice,  requiring  them  to  leave  the 
country,  immediately,  for  England.  They  were  also 
forbidden  to  quit  their  place  of  residence  without  per- 
mission, and  their  names  were  published  in  the  list  of 
passengers  about  to  leave  for  England  in  one  of  the 
Company's  ships.  Their  request  for  a  renewal  of  the 
permission  to  go  to  the  Isle  of  France,  in  The  Creole,  a 
vessel  now  ready  to  sail  for  Port  Louis,  was  perempto- 
rily refused. 

No  alternative  now  seemed  left  them  ;  and  it  could 
hardly  have  furnished  ground  for  an  impeachment  of 
their  missionary  zeal,  had  they  concluded  that  Provi- 
dence was,  by  these  events,  indicating  a  return  to  their 
native  land.  But  they  did  not  so  interpret  them.  In 
unimpaired  health,  with  impressions  of  the  greatness 
and  necessity  of  the  work  strengthened  by  what  they 
had  witnessed,  they  could  not  take  "  the  wrath  of  man  " 
as  an  index  of  the  will  of  God.  One  hope  of  escape,  a 
forlorn  one  indeed,  yet  remained,  —  to  persuade  the 
captain  of  The  Creole  to  receive  them  without  a  pass- 
port. On  making  this  application  to  him,  he  replied,  to 
their  great  joy,  that  he  could  take  no  responsibility  in 


110  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

the  matter ;  but  there  was  his  ship,  and  they  could  do 
what  they  pleased. 

It  was  at  the  dead  of  night,  when  this  little  com- 
pany of  Christian  missionaries,  two  talented,  virtuous, 
educated  young  men,  and  a  beautiful  and  refined  woman, 
stole,  like  criminals,  through  the  silent  streets  of  Calcutta, 
followed  by  the  wary  steps  of  the  coolies  carrying  their 
baggage,  and  directed  their  course  towards  the  city 
dockyards.  By  some  means  the  gates  were  opened  for 
the  wayfarers,  though  this  was  entirely  contrary  to  the 
rules  of  the  Company,  and  they  soon  found  themselves 
safe  on  board  their  ark  of  promise,  La  Belle  Creole. 
Next  morning  the  vessel  sailed,  and  for  two  days  they 
flattered  themselves  that  they  were  virtually  beyond 
the  reach  of  their  enemies.  But  characters,  so  danger- 
ous to  the  British  supremacy  in  India,  could  not  be 
suffered  thus  to  go  at  large  on  the  continent  or  islands 
of  Asia.  At  the  close  of  the  second  day,  a  government 
dispatch  arrived,  forbidding  the  pilot  to  proceed  any 
further  down  the  river  with  the  vessel,  as  passengers 
were  on  board  who  had  been.ordered  to  England. 

The  following  letter  from  Mrs.  Judson  to  her  parents, 
gives  a  vivid  picture  of  the  embarrassments  of  their 
situation,  and  of  the  firmness  and  spirit  with  which  these 
were  met :  — 


PERSECUTION    BY   THE    EAST    INDIA    COMPANY.    Ill 

"At  Sea,  N.  Lat.  12,  Dec.  7, 1812. 
tt  My  dear  Parents 

4k  We  immediately  concluded  that  it  was  not  safe  to  con- 
tinue on  board  the  remainder  of  the  night.  Mr.  Rice  and 
Mr.  Judson  took  a  boat  and  went  on  shore  to  a  tavern,  little 
more  than  a  mile  from  the  ship.  The  captain  said  that  I, 
and  our  baggage,  could  stay  on  board  with  perfect  safety, 
even  should  an  officer  be  sent  to  search  the  vessel.  The 
next  day  we  lay  at  anchor,  expecting  every  hour  to  hear 
some  intelligence  from  Calcutta.  In  the  evening,  the  captain 
received  a  note  from  the  owner  of  the  vessel,  saying  he  had 
been  at  the  Police  to  inquire  the  cause  of  the  detention  of 
his  ship ;  and  the  cause  assigned  was,  l  it  was  suspected  there 
were  persons  on  board  which  the  captain  had  been  forbidden 
give,'  and  that  the  ship  could  not  proceed,  until  it  was 
ascertained  that  no  xuch  persons  were  on  board.  The  pilot 
immediately  wrote  a  certificate  that  no  such  persons  were  on 
board,  at  the  same  time  giving  a  list  of  all  the  passengers. 
I  got  into  a  small  boat  and  went  on  shore,  where  the  brethren 
had  been  anxiously  waiting  through  the  day.  We  knew  not 
what  course  to  take,  as  it  was  then  impossible  that  we  could 
1  in  that  ship,  without  a  pass  from  the  magistrate. 
Brother  Uice  set  out  directly  for  Calcutta,  to  see  if  it  was 
possible  to  get  a  pass,  or  do  any  thing  else.  We  spent  the 
night  and  the  next  day  at  the  tavern,  without  hearing  any- 
thing from  the  ship,  fearing  that  every  European  we  saw 
was  in  search  of  us.  Brother  Rice  returned  from  Calcutta, 
but  had  effected  nothing.  The  owner  of  the  vessel  was 
highly  offended  at  his  ship's  being  detained  so  long  on  our 
account,  and  would  do  nothing  more  to  assist  us.  We  felt 
our  situation  was  peculiarly  trying,  and  could  see  no  end  to 
our  difficulties. 

"  Early  the  next  morning  we  received  a  note  from  the 


112  THE   EARNEST  MAN. 

captain,  saying  he  had  liberty  to  proceed,  but  we  must  take 
our  baggage  from  the  vessel.  We  thought  it  not  safe  to  con- 
tinue at  the  tavern  where  we  were,  neither  could  we  think 
of  returning  to  Calcutta.  But  one  way  was  left  —  to  go  down 
the  river  about  sixteen  miles,  where  there  was  another  tavern. 
I  went  on  board  to  see  about  our  baggage,  as  the  brethren 
did  not  think  it  safe  for  them  to  go.  As  we  could  get  no 
boat  at  the  place  where  we  were,  I  requested  the  captain  to 
let  our  things  remain  until  the  vessel  reached  the  other 
tavern,  where  I  would  try  to  get  a  boat.  He  consented,  and 
told  me  I  had  better  go  in  the  vessel,  as  it  would  be  un- 
pleasant going  so  far  in  a  small  boat.  I  was  obliged  to  go  on 
shore  again,  to  inform  the  brethren  of  this,  and  know  what 
they  would  do.  Brother  Rice  set  out  again  for  Calcutta,  to 
try  to  get  a  passage  to  Ceylon,  in  a  ship  which  was  anchored 
near  the  place  we  were  going  to.  Mr.  J.  took  a  small  boat 
in  which  was  a  small  part  of  our  baggage,  to  go  down  the 
river,  while  I  got  into  the  pilot's  boat,  which  he  had  sent  on 
shore  with  me,  to  go  to  the  ship.  As  I  had  been  sometime 
on  shore,  and  the  wind  strong,  the  vessel  had  gone  down 
some  distance.  Imagine  how  uncomfortable  my  situation. 
In  a  little  boat  rowed  by  six  natives,  entirely  alone,  the  river 
very  rough,  in  consequence  of  the  wind ;  without  an  umbrella 
or  anything  to  screen  me  from  the  sun,  which  was  very  hot. 
The  natives  hoisted  a  large  sail,  which  every  now  and  then 
would  almost  tip  the  boat  on  one  side.  I  manifested  some 
fear  to  them,  and  to  comfort  me,  they  would  constantly  repeat 
'  Cutcha  pho  annah  sahib,  cutcha  pho  annah.'  The  meaning, 
Never  fear,  madam,  never  fear.  After  sometime  we  came 
up  with  the  ship,  where  I  put  our  things  in  order,  to  be  taken 
out  in  an  hour  or  two.  When  we  came  opposite  the  tavern, 
the  pilot  kindly  lent  me  his  boat  and  servant  to  go  on  shore. 
I  immediately  procured  a  large  boat  to  send  to  the  ship,  for 


PERSECUTION    BT   THE    EAST    INDIA    COMPANY.    113 
% 
our  baggage.     I  entered  the  tavern,  a  stranger,  a  female,  and 
unprotected.     I  called  for  a  room,  and  sat  down  to  reflect  on 
my  disconsolate  situation.     I  had  nothing  with  me  but  a  few 
rupees.     1  did  not  know  that  the  boat  which  I  sent  after  the 
would  overtake  it,  and  if  it  did,  whether  it  would  ever 
return  with  our  baggage ;  neither  did  I  know  where  Mr. 
J.  was,  or  when  he  would  come,  or  with  what  treatment  I 
should  meet  at  the  tavern.    I  thought  of  home,  and  said  to. 
.   These  are  some  of  the  many  trials  attendant  on  a 
missionary  life,  and  which  I  have  anticipated. 

4%  In  a  few  hours  Mr.  Judson  arrived,  and  toward  night, 
our  baggage.  We  had  now  given  up  all  hope  of  going  to 
the  Isle  of  France,  and  concluded  either  to  return  to  Calcutta, 
or  to  communicate  our  real  situation  to  the  tavern-keeper, 
and  request  him  to  assist  us.  As  we  thought  the  latter  pref- 
erable, Mr.  J.  told  our  landlord  our  circumstances,  and  asked 
him  if  he  could  assist  in  getting  us  a  passage  to  Ceylon.  He 
said  a  friend  of  his  was  expected  down  the  river  the  next 
day,  who  was  captain  of  a  vessel  bound  to  Madras,  and  who, 
he  did  not  doubt,  would  take  us.  This  raised  our  sinking 
hopes.  We  waited  two  days;  and  on  the  third,  which  was 
Sabbath,  the  ship  ranie  in  sight,  and  anchored  directly  before 
the  house.  We  now  expected  the  time  of  our  deliverance 
had  come.  The  tavern-keeper  went  on  board  to  see  the 
captain  for  us ;  but  our  hopes  were  again  dashed,  when  he 
returned  and  said  the  captain  could  not  take  us.  We  de- 
termined, however,  to  see  the  captain  ourselves,  and  endeav- 
or to  persuadf  him  to  let  us  have  a  passage  at  any  rate. 
We  had  just  sat  down  to  supper,  when  a  letter  was  handed 
us.  We  hastily  opened  it,  and,  to  our  great  surprise  and 
joy,  in  it  was  a  pass  from  the  magistrate,  for  us  to  go  on 
board  The  Creole,  the  vessel  we  had  left.  Who  procured 
this  pass  for  us,  or  in  what  way,  we  are  still  ignorant ;  we 
8 


114  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

could  only  view  the  hand  of  God,  and  wonder.  But  we  had 
every  reason  to  expect  The  Creole  had  got  out  to  sea,  as  it 
was  three  days  since  we  left  her.  There  was  a  possibility, 
however,  of  her  having  anchored  at  Saugur,  seventy  miles 
from  where  we  then  were.  We  had  let  our  baggage  continue 
in  the  boat  into  which  it  was  first  taken,  therefore  it  was  all  in 
readiness  ;  and  after  dark,  we  all  three  got  into  the  same  boat, 
.and  set  out  against  the  tide,  for  Saugur.  It  was  a  most 
dreary  night  to  me ;  but  Mr.  J.  slept  the  greater  part  of  the 
night.  The  next  day  we  had  a  favorable  wind,  and  before 
night  reached  Saugur,  where  were  many  ships  at  anchor, 
and  among  the  rest  we  had  the  happiness  to  find  The  Creole. 
She  had  been  anchored  there  two  days,  waiting  for  some  of 
the  ship's  crew.  I  never  enjoyed  a  sweeter  moment  in  my 
life,  than  that  when  I  was  sure  we  were  in  sight  of  The  Creole. 
After  spending  a  fortnight  in  such  anxiety,  it  was  a  very 
great  relief  to  find  ourselves  safe  on  board  the  vessel  in  which 
we  first  embarked.  All  of  us  are  now  attending  to  the 
French  language,  as  that  is  spoken  altogether  at  the  Isle  of 
France.  Though  it  has  pleased  our  Heavenly  Father  lightly 
to  afflict  us,  yet  he  has  supported  and  delivered  us  from  our 
trials ;  which  still  encourages  us  to  trust  in  him." 

On  the  17th  of  January,  1813,  they  arrived,  after  a 
long  and  stormy  passage,  at  Port  Louis.  Here  they 
were  met  with  the  afflictive  intelligence  that  Mrs.  Newell 
was  no  more.  Just  at  the  date  of  their  escape  from 
Bengal,  she  was  finishing  her  short  earthly  course  ;  so 
short,  if  reckoned  "  by  days  and  months  and  years,"  but 
longer  than  many  a  life  of  threescore  and  ten,  if  counted 
by  holy  affections  and  purposes,  or  by  its  results  to  the 


PERSECUTION    BY    THE    EAST    INDIA    COMPANY.    115 

cause  of  missions.  The  story  of  her  brief  career  and 
early  death,  threw  a  tender,  melancholy  interest  around 
that  cause,  as  something  consecrated  by  a  martyr's 
sacrifice,  and  awoke  a  kindred  spirit  of  self-devotion  in 
many  a  youthful  heart ;  so  that  her  lonely  grave  may 
be  said  to  have  blossomed  with  the  richest  blessings  for 
the  world. 

Mr.  Newell  soon  took  his  departure  for  Ceylon  ;  and, 
about  the  middle  of  March,  Mr.  Rice  sailed  for  Amer- 
ica, with  the  double  object  of  recruiting  his  own  health, 
which  was  suffering  from  the  effects  of  the  climate,  and 
of  awakening  a  deeper  interest  in  missions  among  the 
Baptists  of  this  country.  Thus  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson 
were  left  utterly  alone,  with  prospects  but  little  adapted 
in  any  respect  to  cheer  their  spirits.  The  governor 
was  indeed,  at  present,  friendly ;  but  it  was  uncertain 
how  long  this  state  of  things  would  last,  since  the  per- 
secuting jealousy  of  the  Company  had  followed  them  to 
mote  spot,  with  the  warning  to  the  authorities  to 
"  keep  an  eye  to  those  American  missionaries  ! "  This, 
however,  would  have  weighed  little  with  them,  had  the 
field  of  usefulness  been  such  as  to  justify  their  stay. 
Madagascar  was  closed  against  them  by  the  despotic 
character  of  its  government.  The  remainder  of  the 
story,  and  the  wonderful  guidance  of  Providence  by 
which  tlieir   wanderings  at  length  terminated  in  the 


116  THE    EAKNEST    MAN. 

land  they  had  so  dreaded,  so  longed-for,  will  be  best 
given  in  Mr.  Judson's  own  words. 

"  A  slight  sketch  of  our  movements,  particularly  at  the  time 
of  our  coming  to  Rangoon,  I  now  submit.  After  a  mournful 
separation  from  brother  Rice,  at  the  Isle  of  France,  in  March, 
1813,  we  remained  there  about  two  months,  waiting  for  a 
passage  to  some  of  the  eastern  islands,  not  venturing  at  that 
time  to  think  a  mission  to  Burmah  practicable.  But  there 
being  no  prospect  of  accomplishing  our  wishes  directly,  we 
concluded  to  take  passage  to  Madras,  and  proceed  thence  as 
circumstances  should  direct.  We  arrived  there  in  June,  and 
were  immediately  informed  of  the  renewed  hostilities  of  the 
Company's  government  towards  missionaries,  exhibited  in  their 
treatment  of  the  brethren  both  at  Serampore  and  Bombay. 
We  were,  of  course,  reported  to  the  police,  and  an  account 
of  our  arrival  forwarded  to  the  supreme  government  in 
Bengal.  It  became,  therefore,  a  moral  certainty  that,  as  soon 
as  an  order  could  be  received  at  Madras,  we  should  be  again 
arrested,  and  ordered  to  England.  Our  only  safety  appeared 
to  consist  in  escaping  from  Madras  before  such  order  should 
arrive.  It  may  easily  be  conceived  with  what  feelings  I  in- 
quired the  destination  of  vessels  in  the  Madras  roads.  I  found 
none  that  would  sail  in  season,  but  one  bound  to  Rangoon. 
A  mission  to  Rangoon  we  had  been  accustomed  to  regard 
with  feelings  of  horror.  But  it  was  now  brought  to  a  point. 
We  must  either  venture  there  or  be  sent  to  Europe.  All 
other  paths  were  shut  up ;  and  thus  situated,  though  dis- 
suaded by  all  our  friends  at  Madras,  we  commended  ourselves 
to  the  care  of  God,  and  embarked  the  22d  of  June.  It  was 
a  crazy  old  vessel.  The  captain  was  the  only  person  on 
board  that  could  speak  our  language,  and  we  had  no  other 
apartment  than  what  was  made  by  canvas.     Our  passage 


PERSECUTION   BY   THE    EAST   INDIA    COMPANY.    117 

was  very  tedious.  Mrs.  Judson  was  taken  dangerously  ill, 
and  continued  so  until,  at  one  period,  I  came  to  experience 
the  awful  sensation  which  necessarily  resulted  from  the  ex- 
pectation of  an  immediate  separation  from  my  beloved  wife, 
the  only  remaining  coinpauion  of  my  wanderings.  About 
the  same  time,  the  captain  being  unable  to  make  the  Nicobar 
Inland,  where  it  was  intended  to  take  in  a  cargo  of  cocoa-nuts, 

ra  driven  into  a  dangerous  strait,  between  the  Little 
and  Great  Andamans,  two  savage  coasts,  where  the  captain 
had  never  ben  before,  and  where,  if  we  had  been  cast  ashore, 
we  should,  according  to  all  accounts,  have  been  killed  and 
eaten  by  the  natives.  But  as  one  evil  is  sometimes  an  anti- 
dote to  another,  so  it  happened  with  us.  Our  being  driven 
into  this  dangerous  but  quiet  channel  brought  immediate 
relief  to  the  agitated  and  exhausted  frame  of  Mrs.  Judson, 
and  conduced  essentially  to  her  recovery.  And  in  the  event, 
we  were  safely  conducted  over  the  black  rocks  which  we 
sometimes  saw  in  the  gulf  below,  and  on  the  eastern  side  of 

mils  found  favorable  winds,  which  gently  wailed  us 
forward  to  Rangoon.  But  on  arriving  here,  other  trials 
awaited  us. 

'*  We  had  never  before  seen  a  place  where  European  influ- 
ence had  not  contributed  to  smooth  and  soften  the  rough 
features  of  uncultivated  nature.  The  prospect  of  Rangoon, 
as  we  approached,  was  quite  disheartening.  I  went  on  shore, 
just  at  night,  to  take  a  view  of  the  place,  and  the  Mission 
House ;  but  so  dark,  and  cheerless,  and  unpromising  did  all 

appear,  that  the  evening  of  that  day,  after  my  return 
to  the  ship,  we  have  marked  as  the  most  gloomy  and  dis- 
tressing that  we  ever  passed.  Instead  of  rejoicing,  as  we 
OOght  to  have  done,  in  having  found  a  heathen  land  from 
which  we  were  not  immediately  driven  away,  such  were  our 
weaknesses  that  we  felt  we  had  no  portion  left  here  below, 
and  found  consolation  only  in  looking  beyond  our  pilgrimage, 


118  THE    EAKNEST    MAN. 

•which  we  tried  to  flatter  ourselves  would  be  short,  to  that 
peaceful  region  where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling  and 
the  weary  are  at  rest.  But  if  ever  we  commended  ourselves 
sincerely,  and  without  reserve,  to  the  disposal  of  our  Heavenly 
Father,  it  was  on  this  evening.  And  after  some  recollection 
and  prayer,  we  experienced  something  of  the  presence  of 
Him  who  cleave  th  closer  than  a  brother ;  something  of  that 
peace  which  our  Saviour  bequeathed  to  his  followers  —  a 
legacy  which,  we  know  from  this  experience,  endures  when 
the  fleeting  pleasures  and  unsubstantial  riches  of  the  world 
are  passed  away.  The  next  day  Mrs.  Judson  was  carried 
into  the  town,  being  unable  to  walk  ;  and  we  found  a  home 
at  the  Mission  House,  though  Mr.  Carey  was  absent  at  Ava." 

Those  who  have  since  visited  Rangoon,  under  far 
more  favorable  circumstances,  cannot  wonder  that  the 
hearts  of  the  lonely  young  missionaries  sunk,  for  a 
moment,  at  the  aspect  of  their  future  home.  A  more 
uninviting  spot,  at  first  approach,  can  perhaps  hardly 
be  found.  A  vast  swamp-like  level  covered  with 
wretched  bamboo  huts  raised  on  poles,  neglected,  filthy, 
unenlivened  by  a  trace  of  European  civilization, — 
such  was  Rangoon  when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson  first 
looked  upon  it,  in  June  of  the  year  1813.  To  the  in- 
fluence of  these  repulsive  outward  features,  were  added 
the  most  gloomy  anticipations  of  the  treatment  they 
were  likely  to  receive  from  its  despotic  and  cruel  govern- 
ment. But  not  for  an  instant  did  they  think  of  aban- 
doning the  field.     God  had  evidently  led  them  to  Bur- 


PERSECUTION    BY    THE    EAST    INDIA    COMPANY.    119 

mah,  and  in  Burraah  they  resolved  to  labor  to  the  end 
of  life.  Their  repinings  went  no  further,  than  to  hope 
that  the  end  might  come  speedily.  But  that  humble 
beginning,  when  in  weakness  and  sorrow  they  cast 
themselves,  like  dependent  children,  on  the  Saviour's 
bosom,  was  a  better  omen  for  their  work,  than  tho 
most  heroic  firmness  based  on  their  own  strength.  It 
linked  them  to  that  strength,  against  which  human  and 
satanic  powers  rage  in  vain.  The  returning  song  of 
hope  and  thanksgiving  soon  proved  the  blessed  promise 
true :  "  As  thy  day,  so  shall  thy  strength  be !  " 

On  the  following  morning  Mrs.  Judson,  being  too  ill 
to  walk,  or  ride  on  horseback,  (the  only  means  of  con- 
veyance to  be  obtained,)  was  carried  in  an  arm-chair 
to  the  Mission  House,  which  had  been  erected  by  a 
former  missionary,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  town. 
Being  outside  the  walls,  it  was  exposed  to  the  attacks 
of  wild  beasts  and  of  robbers,  as  well  as  to  the  stench  #f 
the  city  offal,  and  of  the  burning  bodies  of  the  dead, 
the  places  of  deposit  for  both  being  near  the  mission 
premises.  Yet,  as  it  was  large  and  convenient  for  the 
place,  and  stood  in  a  garden  filled  with  fruit  and  shade 
trees,  it  formed  a  delightful  contrast  to  the  miserable 
filthy  streets  of  Rangoon.  Here  Mrs.  Judson  soon 
recovered  her  health,  and  both  applied  themselves 
diligently  to  the  study  of  the  Burman  language. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE   ADOPTED    COUNTRY. 


With  a  map  of  Southern  Asia  before  him,  the 
reader  will  obtain,  from  the  following  brief  statements, 
a  sufficiently  clear  idea  of  the  geographical  position 
of  Burmah,  and  its  extent  at  the  time  Mr.  Judson  en- 
tered it.  Its  sea-coast  then  extended  along  the  Bay  of 
Bengal,  from  the  English  province  of  Chittagong  on  the 
north  to  Junk  Ceylon  on  the  south,  a  distance  of  more 
than  a  thousand  miles.  Its  northern  limit  was  Thibet, 
its  eastern  the  River  Salwen.  The  ancient  kingdom 
of*Ava  was  the  heart  of  this  great  empire ;  the  king- 
doms of  Arracan,  of  Pegu,  and  the  Tenasserim  prov- 
inces of  Siam,  having  been  added  to  it  by  successive 
conquests.  These  had  been  its  limits  since  the  year 
1793. 

Its  two  noble  rivers,  the  Irrawaddy  and  Salwen, 
intersect  the  entire  empire  from  north  to  south,  and,  by 
their  numerous  interlocking  branches,  cover  the  whole 
face  of  the  peninsula,  Arracan  excepted,  with  a  system 


THE  ADOPTED  COUNTRY.  121 

of  natural  canals.  The  Irrawaddy,  navigable  for  large 
vessels  as  far  up  as  Ava,  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
from  the  sea,  and  for  boats  much  further,  poors  into 
the  Bay  of  Bengal  by  fourteen  mouths.  On  one  of 
these,  lies  Rangoon,  with  its  secure  and  capacious  har- 
bor, seemingly  fitted,  by  its  position,  to  be  the  New- 
York  or  New  Orleans  of  Burmah. 

The  face  of  the  country,  and  consequently  its  cli- 
mate and  vegetable  productions,  exhibit  great  diversity. 
The  delta  of  the  Irrawaddy,  extending  as  far  north  as 
Prome,  is  a  rich  marshy  level,  furnishing  the  rice 
grounds  of  the  empire.  Above  Prome,  the  country 
becomes  gradually  more  irregular  and  picturesque  up 
to  Ava,  where  it  rises  into  bold  mountain  scenery. 
North  of  this  is  a  rugged  tract,  little  known  to  Euro- 
peans. This  middle  section,  though  less  fertile  than  the 
southern,-  produces  excellent  wheat  and  the  different 
corn  and  leguminous  crops  cultivated  in  Hindostan. 
Sugar-cane,  indigo,  cotton,  both  white  and  yellow, 
tobacco,  and  the  various  fruits  of  the  tropics,  are  in- 
digenous in  Burmah.  Noble  forests  clothe  the  moun- 
tainous districts.  The  teak,  said  to  surpass  even  the 
English  oak  for  ship-timber,  abounds  in  all  parts  of 
the  country. 

Its  mineral  wealth  is  supposed  to  be  very  great,  but 
is  as  yet  but  imperfectly  developed.     Gold,  silver,  iron, 


122  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

tin ;.  various  kinds  of  precious  stones,  amber,  the  most 
beautiful  marble  ;  coal,  both  bituminous  and  anthracite  ; 
sulphur,  antimony,  and  petroleum,  are  among  its  known 
products. 

The  forests  and  jungles  swarm  with  wild  animals, 
among  which  the  principal  are  the  elephant  and  tiger. 
Buffaloes,  braminy  cattle,  horses,  and  other  domestic 
animals  common  to  India  are,  likewise,  found  here. 

The  climate,  in  the  more  northerly,  hilly  districts,  is 
delightful  and  salubrious,  and,  even  in  the  level  regions, 
is  more  healthy  for  Europeans  than  in  most  parts  of 
India.  The  natives  attest  its  salubrity  by  their  health, 
longevity,  and  capacity  for  great  muscular  exertion. 

Such  was  Burmah,  when  Judson  entered  it,  in  1813. 
Many  a  sad  change  has  it  experienced  since  that  day. 

There  is  always  something  melancholy  in  witness- 
ing the  humiliation  of  a  proud  and  independent  people, 
by  a  foreign  power ;  to  see  them  retiring  from  their 
ancient  landmarks,  forced  to  yield  one  after  another 
all  the  advantages  which  gave  them  a  distinguished 
place  among  the  nations,  and  gradually  sinking  away 
to  weakness  and  insignificance.  We  cannot  avoid 
something  of  this  feeling,  when  contrasting  the  present 
with  the  former  state  of  Burmah.  By  the  treaty  of 
Yandabo,  1826,  Arracan  and  the  Tenasserim  provinces 
were  ceded  to  the  British,  and  the  last  war  swept  from 


THE  ADOPTED  COUNTRY.  123 

her  the  whole  of  Pegu,  with  its  magnificent  delta,  the 
granary  of  the  empire,  and  her  only  remaining  sea- 
ports, Bassein  and  Rangoon.  Of  her  thousand  miles 
of  sea-coast,  not  an  inch  is  left.  The  circle  is  closing 
round  her  ;  and  though,  like  a  hunted  tigress,  she  stands 
for  a  while  at  bay  in  that  ancient  home,  from  which  she 
went  forth  to  prey  on  weaker  nations,  her  final  doom  is 
as  certain  as  if  already  consummated. 

But  a  recollection  of  the  history  of  Burmah,  and 
of  the  character  of  its  government,  leaves  little  re- 
maining of  this  poetic  sentiment.  Its  subjects  were 
not  one  great  people,  united  by  a  common  blood,  or 
even  bound  together  by  just  and  equal  laws.  The 
conquered  provinces  hated  the  government  as  their 
pitiless  oppressor,  and  were  ready  at  any  moment  for 
revolt.  Even  the  Burmans  themselves,  though  proud 
of  their  country  and  their  nationality,  were  ground  to 
the  dust  by  the  monstrous  exactions,  and  despotic  ad- 
ministration of  their  rulers.  No  man's  life  or  property 
was  secure  for  a  moment.  The  evidence  of  industry 
and  thrift,  furnished  by  a  little  show  of  wealth,  was  but 
the  scent  of  prey  to  the  government  harpies.  The 
very  title  of  a  provincial  governor  indicates  the  odious 
character  of  his  office.  He  was  called^'the  eater," 
or  **  consumer,"  of  the  district.  Notwithstanding  all 
the  natural  advantages  of  the  country,  and  their  own 


124 


THE   EARNEST   MAN. 


capacity,  being  active,  acute,  and  ingenious  far  beyond 
most  Asiatics,  — -  the  Burmans  could  not  rise  above 
this  depressing  influence.  And  they  never  could  have 
advanced  beyond  semi-civilization,  and  become  a  nation 
of  men,  while  such  an  iron  weight  lay  upon  their 
energies.  So  far  as  temporal  comfort,  and  security  of 
life  and  property  are  concerned,  the  Burman  fares 
much  better  in  the  British  provinces,  than  under  the 
native  monarchs.  What  they  have  lost  nationally,  they 
have  far  more  than  gained  individually. 

In  regard  to  the  progress  of  Christianity  in  the 
empire,  the  change  is  still  more  beneficial.  No  one 
now  is  in  danger  of  fines,  imprisonment,  scourging, 
and  death,  for  abandoning  the  national  religion.  The 
missionary  may  proclaim  the  gospel,  and  the  Burman 
and  Karen  and  Peguan  may  listen  to  its  joyful  sound, 
with  none  to  molest  or  make  them  afraid.  It  is  not 
worth  while,  then,  to  sigh  over  the  decay  of  the  Bur- 
man Empire.  The  Anglo-Saxon  instinct  of  annexa- 
tion, .  has  seldom  been  more  fortunately  developed  for 
the  best  interests  of  humanity. 

A  brief  sketch  of  the  interior  organization  of  the 
government,  will  place  this  in  a  still  clearer  light.  At 
its  head  stands  the  monarch,  sole  proprietor  of  the 
soil,  and  absolute  master  of  the  lives  and  property  of 
his  subjects.     His  will  i3  the  law  of  the  empire.     No 


THE  ADOPTED  COUNTRY.  125 

rank  or  office  is  hereditary,  but  his  own.  Every  noble 
or  dignitary  is  such  by  immediate  royatfcreation,  and  is 
liable  at  any  moment  to  the  forfeiture  of  rank,  of  prop- 
erty, and  of  life  itself,  at  the  royal  will. 

A  council  of  four  members,  called  at-wen-woons,  or 
"  inside  "  ministers  of  state,  forms  the  private  advisory 
cabinet  of  the  emperor.  All  state  questions,  having 
been  first  debated  in  this  council,  are  then  transmitted 
to  the  great  council  of  state,  lut-cChau,  consisting  also 
of  four  members,  called  woon-gy-ees,  which  has  in 
charge  the  administration  of  the  government,  and 
is  invested  with  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive 
powers.  In  both  these  bodies,  the  decision  is  by  a 
majority  of  voices.  To  each  is  attached  a  large  num- 
ber of  secretaries,  of  high  official  rank  and  influence, 
but  not  entitled  to  vote. 

It  might  at  first  seem  as  if  these  two  councils  would 
form  some  check  to  royal  despotism.  But  being  ap- 
pointed by  the  king  alone,  and  removable  at  his  pleas- 
ure, they  are  in  fact  his  obsequious  creatures,  the  mere 
organs  and  instruments  of  his  will.  No  freedom  of 
action,  or  even  of  opinion,  can  be  looked  for  in  such 
circumstances.  So  precarious  is  the  tenure  of  their 
dignity,  that  they  are  afraid  to  communicate  to  the 
monarch  political  information  of  the  highest  impor- 
tance, if  it  chances  to  be  of  a  disagreeable  character. 


126  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

The  bearer  of  such  unwelcome  news  would  probably 
expiate  the  offence  with  his  office,  and  perhaps  with 
his  head. 

The  empire  is  divided  into  provinces,  townships, 
districts,  and  villages  ;  not  for  the  more  perfect  admin- 
istration of  justice,  but  for  the  more  speedy,  systematic, 
and  thorough  fleecing  of  the  people  by  the  royal  gov- 
ernment. No  servant  of  the  government  receives  a  fixed 
salary.  From  the  head  man  of  a  village  up  to  the 
governor  of  a  province,  all  derive  their  revenues  from 
direct  taxation  upon  the  inhabitants  of  their  assigned 
jurisdictions ;  and  provided  each  pays  over  a  satisfactory 
sum  to  the  official  next  above  him,  and  an  ample  golden 
stream  at  length  flows  into  the  royal  treasury,  all  further 
account  of  his  stewardship  is  dispensed  with.  In  addi- 
tion to  this,  the  government  claims  the  right  of  levying 
a  special  tax,  whenever  the  exigencies  of  the  state 
require  .it.  Industry  and  enterprise  must  necessarily 
flag,  under  a  system  which  renders  every  improvement 
in  a  man's  condition  the  signal  for  new  extortions,  and  ex- 
poses him,  upon  the  mere  suspicion  of  concealed  wealth, 
to  be  torn  from  his  family,  and  subjected  to  imprison- 
ment and  cruel  torture  till  he  confess  the  fact.  These 
are  the  causes  of  the  slow  progress  of  the  Burmese  in 
the  arts  of  civilized  life ;  the  reasons  why,  in  a  country 
teeming  with  the  richest  products  of  nature,  and  with 


THE    ADOPTED    COUNTRY.  127 

every  capacity  fitting  them  to  become  a  great  agricul- 
tural, manufacturing,  and  commercial  people,  they  are 
still  unskilful  farmers  and  artisans,  and  dependent  on 
foreign  vessels  to  carry  on  their  scanty  trade  with  other 
countries ;  the  reason  why  the  larger  part  of  their  fine 
country  is  still  covered  with  jungles  swarming  with 
ferocious  beasts,  and  that  the  inhabited  portions  wear 
a  general  aspect  of  poverty  and  wretchedness. 

The  effect  on  moral  character  is  still  more  lament- 
able. Merciless  injustice  and  oppression  in  the  rulers, 
has  produced  its  inevitable  counterpart,  dissimulation 
and  falsehood  in  the  people.  Lying  is  a  vice  so  uni- 
versal, so  bred  in  the  Burman  blood,  that  detection 
scarcely  awakens  a  feeling  of-  shame.  The  very  pre- 
cariousness  of  property  lessens  the  sense  of  its  sacred- 
ness,  so  that  most  of  them  are  very  ready  to  repair 
their  losses  from  the  hand  of  government,  at  the  expense 
of  their  neighbors.  Cunning,  adroitness  in  deceiving 
and  overreaching  others,  are  held  to  be  the  mark  of  a 
superior  mind. — The  impurity  of  the  Burman  character 
cannot  be  charged  upon  the  government  as  its  direct 
cause,  for  heathenism  and  moral  purity  cannot  coexist ; 
yet  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  despotism,  by  repressing 
the  natural  activity  of  the  people  in  proper  directions, 
is  a  great  nurse  of  vice  and  immorality. 

Yet,  with  all  these  drawbacks,  there  are  points  in  the 


128  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

Burman  character  and  social  condition  which  strike  one 
with  admiration,  when  contrasted  with  other  nations  of 
India,  especially  the  Hindoos.  Infanticide,  the  immola- 
tion of  widows,  abandonment  of  the  sick  and  aged,  is 
unknown  in  Burmah.  Parental  affection  is  strong  in 
both  father  and  mother ;  and  such  is  the  value  attached 
to  children,  that  a  widow  with  a  family  finds  her  chances 
greatly  increased  for  an  eligible  marriage.  The  aged 
are  treated  with  almost  as  great  reverence  as  in  China  ; 
their  counsels  are  listened  to  with  respect,  and  the  best 
seats  are  assigned  them  in  the  public  assembly.  The 
condition  of  woman  is,  I  believe,  superior  to  that  allowed 
them  by  any  other  Asiatic  people,  and  is  equal,  in  most 
respects,  to  that  of  the  sex,  generally,  in  Europe.  The 
labors  of  the  household  devolve  on  them ;  they  weave, 
draw  the  water,  clean  rice,  cook,  &c,  and  sometimes 
assist  in  the  lighter  outdoor  employments ;  but  all  heavy 
labors  and  severe  exposure  belong  to  the  men.  Polyg- 
amy, though  allowed,  is  seldom  practised,  except  by 
the  grandees.  None  of  that  jealous  seclusion  of  females, 
general  in  the  East,  is  witnessed  here.  They  go  abroad 
as  freely  as  in  Christian  countries,  make  all  the 
purchases  for  their  households,  and  conduct  much  of 
the  traffic  both  in  the  shop  and  bazaar.  Development 
of  character,  and  an  important  social  influence,  are  the 
necessary  consequences. 


THE  ADOPTED  COUNTRY.  129 

The  means  of  elementary  education  are  amply  pro- 
vided for  boys,  so  that  a  very  large  majority  of  the 
males  are  acquainted  with  reading,  writing,  and  accounts. 
Female  education  in  Burmah  bears  about  the  same 
relation  to  that  of  the  men  as  it  does  the  world  over ; 
it  being,  seemingly,  a  silent  understanding  in  all  lands, 
Christian,  Mohammedan,  and  Pagan,  that  the  one  is  to 
be  kept  at  a  safe  distance  below  the  other.  The  extra- 
ordinary talent  for  computation,  however,  which  is  a 
trait  of  the  Burman  mind,  renders  instruction  in  ac- 
counts almost  superfluous,  even  to  those  engaged  in 
trade.  Private  female  schools  are  found  occasionally, 
and  many  females  of  the  higher  classes  acquire  a 
respectable  degree  of  culture,  according  to  the  standard 
of  the  country. 

Excessive  pride  and  hauteur  is  a  national  character- 
istic of  the  Burmans,  a  trait  which  offers  great  obstacles 
to  improvement.  It  is  not  strange  that  they  should 
have  become  thus  inflated,  considering  their  previous 
history;  but  it  has  cost  them  dear  in  their  relations 
with  the  English.  The  series  of  humiliations,  which 
has  so  curtailed  their  power  and  dominion,  is  almost 
wholly  attributable  to  their  overweening  self-conceit. 
It  will  readily  be  seen  how  inaccessible  such  a  people 
would  be  to  the  claims  of  a  new  religion.  The  very 
presentation  of  it,  by  a  despised  foreigner,  would  be  an 
0 


130  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

affront  to  their  self-esteem.  Still,  there  is  something 
refreshing,  in  contrast  with  the  obsequious  servility  of 
the  Hindoo,  with  his  everlasting  bows  and  prostrations, 
in  the  aspect  of  this  sturdy  Oriental,  who  meets,  with 
erect  head  and  unquailing  eye,  the  powerful  European, 
—  seeming  to  say :  "  I  also  am  a  man  !  "  *  We  can- 
not help  believing,  too,  that  this  proud  exterior  has  for 
its  basis  a  character  of  firmer  grain,  fitting  it  for  nobler 
uses  and  a  finer  polish  than  can  be  expected  from  the 
osier-like  pliancy  of  their  Bengalee  neighbors.  That 
outward  softness  evinces,  as  we  well  know,  no  greater 
moral  susceptibility.  "Lascivious  and  bloody"  are,  as 
Buchanan,  tells  us,  the  two  epithets  which  best  describe 
the  effeminate  and  seemingly  passive  Hindoo. 

An  influence  still  more  powerful  than  that  of  gov- 
ernment, in  moulding  their  character  and  condition,  is 
found  in  the  national  religion. 

The  aspect  of  poverty,  wretchedness,  and  degradation, 
which  had  produced  so  painful  and  depressed  a  feeling 
in  the  young  missionaries,  on  their  first  arrival  at  Ran- 
goon, was  soon  found  to  have  a  brilliant  contrast  in  the 
religious  structures  which  adorned  the  suburbs.  From 
the  narrow,  straggling,  dirty  streets  of  the  town,  opened 

*  The  same  feeling  renders  it,  I  am  told,  almost  impossible  for 
English  families  in  Kangoon,  and  other  conquered  towns,  to  procure 
Burmans  as  domestics;  so  that  they  are  obliged  to  import  their 
servants  from  Bengal. 


THE  ADOPTED  COUNTRY.  131 

two  avenues,  each  two  miles  long,  conducting  to  the 
great  Shoo-da-gon,  one  of  the  most  magnificent  temples 
of  the  empire,  and  thrice  sacred  as  enshrining  several 
of  the  real  hairs  of  Gaudama.     It  looked  down  from 
its  eminence,  upon  the  surrounding  landscape,  like  the 
monarch  of  the  scene.     A  mile  of  pagodas,  on  either 
side  of  the  avenue,  marked  the  approach  to  the  temple. 
Ascending  by  several  flights  of  broad  stairs    the  ter- 
races   of  the    sacred    hill,   and    passing  through,  the 
grand  gate,  upon  the  summit  a  bewildering  scene  of 
picturesque  beauty  and  barbaric  splendor  burst  upon 
the  gazer's  view.     "  One's  first  impressions,"  says  Dr. 
Malcom, "  are  —  what  terrible  grandeur !  what  sickening 
magnificence  !  what  absurd  imagery !  what  extravagant 
expenditure  !  what  long  successions  of  devotees  to  pro- 
cure this  throng  of  buildings  of  such  various  dates ! 
what  a  poor  religion  that  makes  such  labors  its  chief 
meritoriousness !     Before  you  stands  the  huge   Shoo- 
da-gon,  its  top  among  the  clouds,  and  its  golden  sides 
blazing  in  the  glories  0f  an  Eastern  sun.     Around  are 
pompous  zayats,  noble  pavements,  Gothic  mausoleums, 
uncouth  colossal  lions,  curious  stone  umbrellas,  graceful 
cylindrical  banners  of  gold,  embroidered  muslins  hang- 
ing from  lofty  pillars,  enormous  stone  jars  in  rows  to 
receive  offerings,  tapers   burning   before   the   images, 
exquisite  flowers  displayed  on  every  side,  filling  the  air 


132  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

with  fragrance,  and  a  multitude  of  carved  figures  of 
idols,  worshippers,  guardians,  griffins,  &c."  Under  light 
open  sheds,  scattered  over  the  large  area,  and  half  em- 
bowered in  the  foliage  of  the  banian,  the  toddy,  and  the 
cocoa,  the  eye  rested  on  huge  uncouth  figures,  repre- 
senting a  young  man  sitting,  with  crossed  legs,  in  an 
attitude  of  profound  contemplation  and  repose.  This 
was  Gaudama,  the  presiding  deity,  the  great  expounder, 
if  not  the  father,  of  that  vast  overshadowing  system  of 
idolatry,  which  holds  "  in  chains  of  darkness  "  one  half 
the  human  race, — Buddhism.  Before  each  image  a 
little  altar  bloomed  with  its  floral  offerings,  and  around 
it  were  clustered  carved  groups  of  priests  and  votaries. 
Nor  was  the  scene  wanting  in  the  more  affecting  specta- 
cle of  living  worshippers,  bowing  with  uplifted  hands 
behind  their  gifts,  counting  their  muttered  prayers  by 
the  aid  of  rosaries,  or  perchance  offering  on  the  end  of 
a  stick  a  written  prayer  purchased,  for  a  trifle,  from  the 
priest. 

Turning  from  this  humiliating  scene  to  the  view  of 
the  surrounding  country,  opened  from  the  parapet,  the 
eye  wandered  over  a  fair  and  lovely  landscape ;  rice 
meadows  smiling  with  the  promise  of  plenty;  gentle 
hills  spotted  with  numerous  herds  ;  valleys  rich  with  ver- 
dure ;  ponds  and  streamlets  glittering  in  the  sun.  But 
what  was  all  this  scene  of  beauty  and  abundance,  to 


THE  ADOPTED  COUNTRY.  133 

the  majority  of  its  inhabitants  ?  The  tall  spires  of 
Rangoon's  fivejiundred  pagodas,  and  the  gilded  roofs 
of  the  kyoungs,  the  sacred  houses  of  the  priests,  gleamed 
from  their  gardens  and  embowering  groves  in  every 
direction.  Every  thing  gave  token  that  the  national 
faith  was  strong  in  wealth  and  influence.  But  what 
had  it  done  for  the  people  ?  The  wretched  town,  "  the 
city  of  bamboo  huts,"  with  its  swarming,  poverty  strick- 
en population,  lying  like  a  black  spot  in  that  ring  of 
gorgeous  structures,  showed  that  it  had  accomplished 
nothing  for  their  outward  welfare.  What,  then,  had 
been  its  influence  on  their  moral  and  spiritual  state? 
How  much  had  it  done  to  elevate  them  above  the  de- 
pressing and  demoralizing  influences  of  their  political 
condition  ?  With  what  hopes  of  the  future  did  it  soothe 
their  present  miseries  —  what  words  of  consolation  had 
it  for  the  dying  hour?  Such  must  have  been  the 
thoughts  which  pressed  on  the  missionary's  heart,  when 
he  first  stood  under  the  shadow  of  the  towering  Shoo- 
da-gon,  pondering  on  his  future  labors.  The  answer 
to  these  questions  requires  a  brief  view  of  the  leading 
ideas  and  doctrines  of  Buddhism,  which  will  form  the 
subject  of  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XL 


BUDDHISM. 


Guadama,  the  founder  of  Buddhism,  flourished  in 
Hindostan  about  626  b.  c.  His  teachings,  perpetu- 
ated by  tradition  through  five  centuries,  and  at  length, 
450  years  after  his  death,  reduced  to  writing  by  one 
of  his  disciples  in  the  island  of  Ceylon,  form  the 
Bet-a-gat,  or  Buddhist  Scriptures,  "the  only  rule  of 
faith  and  practice."  In  the  tenth  century  after  Gau- 
dama, "  they  were  transcribed  by  Buddh-ha-gantha,  with 
an  iron  pen  of  celestial  workmanship,"  and  brought  by 
sea  to  Pugan ;  and  in  the  tenth  century  of  the  Chris- 
tian era,  Buddhism,  after  some  unessential  modifica- 
tions, became  the  established  religion  of  Burmah. 

The  leading  ideas  of  Buddhism,  as  gathered  from 
Dr.  Judson's  view  of  the  subject,  may  be  stated  as 
follows :  1.  The  eternal  existence  of  matter  and 
of  finite  spirits.  2.  Fate,  the  supreme  ruler  of  the 
universe.    3.  The    eternal   transmigration    of    souls ; 


BUDDHISM.  135 

4.  The  development  of  Buddhs.    5.  Annihilation,  the 
supreme  good^ 

The  cosmofony  of  Buddhism  is  very  peculiar.  Per- 
petual dissolution  and  reproduction  is  the  great  law  of 
matter.  The  infinite  number  of  systems,  or  Sak-yas, 
which  compose  the  material  universe,  have,  from  all 
eternity,  been  coming  into  existence,  perishing,  and 
again  reorganizing  ;  a  process  which,  as  it  was  without 
beginning,  will  be  also  without  end.  "  Each  system 
consists  of  one  central  mountain,  the  surrounding  seas 
and  islands,  the  celestial  regions  including  the  revolv- 
ing luminaries  and  the  infernal  regions.  The  earth  on 
which  we  live  is  the  southernmost  of  the  four  grand 
islands,  each  of  which  is  surrounded  by  four  hundred 
of  smaller  size.  The  celestial  regions  consist  of  six 
inferior  and  twenty  superior  heavens.  Of  the  six  in- 
ferior heavens,  the  first  occupies  the  middle,  and  the 
second  the  summit  of  the  central  mount,  the  remain- 
der rising  above  each  other  in  regular  gradation.  The 
same  remark  applies  to  the  superior  heavens,  which 
are  again  distinguishable  into  the  sixteen  visible  and 
four  invisible."  Immediately  beneath  the  central 
mountain,  in  the  space  inclosed  by  the  three  immense 
rocks  on  which  it  rests,  (<  is  a  race  of  beings  resem- 
bling the  Titans  of  old,  who  have  been  banished  from 
the   celestial"  regions.     Below  this,  are   ranged  eight 


136  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

hells,  one  beneath  the  other,  and  extending  through 
a  layer  of  earth  one  hundred*  and  twenty  thousand 
miles  in  depth.  The  earth  rests  on  a  rocky  stratum 
of  the  same  depth,  beneath  which  is  a  continually 
restless  flood  of  water;  and  still  below  this,  a  similar 
body  of  air,  by  the  mighty  force  of  whose  continued  ac- 
tion and  reaction,  the  whole  structure  is  supported." — 
These  several  systems  are  arranged  compactly  in  a 
vast  plane,  each  inclosed  by  a  circular  wall  of  incalcu- 
lable height  and  thickness. 

One  complete  revolution  of  nature,  or  the  age  of  a 
world,  is  termed  a  Ma-ha-kat,  and  each  Ma-ha-kat  wit- 
nesses the  destruction  and  reproduction  of  ten  thou- 
sand systems  like  those  just  described.  This  Grand 
Period,  or  cycle,  consists  of  four  cardinal  periods,  and 
each  of  these  of  sixty-four  intermediate  periods,  or 
a-then-ky-ays,  wThich  latter  embrace  only  the  brief 
term  of  "  one  hundred  quadrillions  of  quadrigintillions 
of  years." 

Pain  and  change  are  the  inseparable  conditions  of 
living  existence.  The  universe  swarms  with  an  infi- 
nite number  of  souls,  which,  from  all  eternity,  have 
been  transmigrating  through  different  worlds  and  va- 
rious forms  of  life,  rising  or  falling  in  the  scale  of  ex- 
istence according  to  the  degree  of  merit  brought  to 
each  new  birth.     "  All  beings  are  continually  revolving 


BUDDHISM.  157 

on  the  great  wheel  of  transmigration,  from  man  to 
monster  or  the  vilest  reptile,  from  the  celestial  inhab- 
itant of  an  upper  heaven  to  the  blackest  demon  in  hell, 
with  no  hope  of  rest  or  reprieve,  save  in  utter  extinc- 
tion." "  However  highly  exalted  in  the  celestial  re- 
gions, and  whatever  number  of  ages  of  happiness  may 
roll  on,"  —  say  the  Burmans,  —  "the  fatal  symptom 
of  a  moisture  under  the  armpits  will  at  length  display 
itself.  The  mortal  being,  when  this  presents  itself, 
must  be  prepared  to  exchange  the  blandishments  and 
dalliance  of  celestial  beauties  for  the  gridirons,  pitch- 
forks, mallets,  and  other  instruments  of  torture  of  the 
infernal  regions."  Such  is  the  predominance  of  moral 
1  evil  in  the  universe,  that  this  process  is  one  of  infinite 
suffering  to  every  individual  spirit.  "  The  Betagat," 
says  Malcom,  "  declares  that  the  tears  shed  by  any 
one  soul,  in  its  various  changes  from  eternity,  are  so 
numerous  that  the  ocean  is  but  a  drop  in  comparison." 

No  Supreme  intelligence  presides  over  this  teeming 
universe  of  material  and  spiritual  forces.  Inexorable 
Fate,  or  the  eternal,  inward  necessity  of  things,  regu- 
lates all  events. 

Certain  of  the  Grand  Periods  are  distinguished  by 
the  development  of  one  or  more  superior  beings  called 
Buddhs,  the  feature  of  this  religion  from  which  it 
derives  its  name.     These  beings  are  not  to  be  con- 


138  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

founded  with  the  incarnations  of  deity  found  in  Brah- 
miriism.  The  Buddh  is  simply  a  finite  spirit,  of  the 
same  nature  as  the  others  which  people  the  universe, 
who,  having  passed  through  an  infinite  series  of  exist- 
ences, at  length,  by  a  happy  accident,  has  become  an 
inhabitant  of  the  earth,  the  only  part  of  the  Sak-yah 
in  which  a  Buddh  can  be  developed.  Here,  after  an- 
other incalculable  series  of  transmigrations  through  in- 
ferior animals,  he  is  born  of  human  parents,  and,  by  a 
life  of  austerity  and  contemplation,  attains  to  a  state  of 
abstraction  in  which  he  is  insensible  to  pain  or  pleas- 
ure, and  receives  the  attribute  of  omniscience.  .  He 
is  then  a  Buddh,  the  supreme  object  of  adoration  to 
the  universe.  This  dignity  imparts,  however,  no  con- 
trol over  its  affairs  ;  and  he  is  himself  still  as  liable  to 
pain,  sickness,  and  death,  as  the  meanest  reptile.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  grand  ultimatum,  the  supreme  good,  to- 
wards which  the  Buddh  directs  all  his  efforts,  is  Nig- 
ban,  that  is,  annihilation. 

The  present  cycle  is  favored  with  five  Buddhs,  four 
of  whom  have  already  attained  to  Nigban,  and  one  is 
yet  to  be  developed.  Gaudama,  the  fourth,  is  the  only 
one  whose  communications  have  been  preserved.  His 
annihilation  occurred  in  the  sixth  century  before  Christ. 
As  his  successor  is  not  to  appear  till  the  ebb  of  the 
next  Grand  Period,  the  universe  is  now  and  will  re- 


BUDDHISM.  139 

main  for  an  incalculable  series  of  ages,  destitute  of  a 
living  God.  In  the  mean  time,  the  images,  temples, 
books,  and  priests  of  the  last  Buddh  are  to  stand  in 
place  of  himself,  as  objects  of  worship ;  and  the  great 
aim  of  human  beings  is,  so  to  conduct  that  they  may 
remain  within  the  sphere  of  men  and  gods  till  the 
manifestation  of  the  fifth  deity,  the  yet  slumbering 
Lord  Arimiteya,  "  whom  they  may  hope  to  accompany 
to  the  golden  world  of  nigban."  Thus  it  appears  that 
the  idea  of  an  eternal  Creator,  Upholder,  and  Moral 
Ruler  of  the  universe,  nay,  even  of  an  ever-living  in- 
finite Intelligence,  is  unknown  in  Buddhism ;  that  it  is, 
in  fact,  Atheism.* 

The  following  record  of  a  conversation,  between  Mr. 
Judson  and  his  Burman  teacher,  will  show  that  the 
system,  as  understood  by  its  most  intelligent  adherents, 
is  in  harmony  with  the  foregoing  statements. 

September  30,  1815.  Had  the  following  conversation 
with  my  teacher,  as  nearly  as  I  can  recollect  it.     This  man 

*  Learned  men  may  find  evidence  in  the  sacred  books  that  the 
primitive  idea  of  Nigban  was  rather  that  of  celestial  repose,  a 
state  exalted  above  pain,  decay,  or  change,  than  one  of  absolute 
non-existence, —  a  subject  certainly  of  much  interest  to  the  philo- 
sophic inquirer.  But,  as  universally  understood, —  the  point  of 
practical  importance  to  the  missionary,  it  was  in  the  view  even  of 
the  most  intelligent  and  best-educated  Burmans,  nothing  short  of 
annihilation. 


140  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

has  been  with  me  about  three  months,  and  is  the  most  sen- 
sible, learned,  and  candid  man  that  I  have  ever  found  amoii" 
the   Burmans.     He   is   forty-seven   years   of   age,  and   his 

name   is    Oo  Oungmen.     I  began   by  saying,  Mr.  J is 

dead.  Oo.  I  have  heard  so.  J.  His  soul  is  lost,  I  think. 
Oo.  Why  so?  J.  He  was  not  a  disciple  of  Christ.  Oo. 
How  do  you  know  that  ?  You  could  not  see  his  soul.  /. 
How  do  you  know  whether  the  root  of  that  mango-tree  is 
good  ?  You  cannot  see  it;  but  you  can  judge  by  the  fruit 
on  its  branches.  Thus  I  know  that  Mr.  J.  was  not  a  disci- 
ple of  Christ,  because  his  words  and  actions  were  not  such 
as  indicate  a  disciple.  Oo.  And  so,  all  who  are  not  disci- 
ples of  Christ  are  lost  ?  J.  Yes,  all,  whether  Burmans  or 
foreigners.  Oo.  This  is  hard.  J.  Yes,  it  is  hard  indeed  j 
otherwise  I  should  not  have  come  all  this  way,  and  left  par- 
ents and  all,  to  tell  you  of  Christ.  He  seemed  to  feel  the 
force  of  this,  and  after  stopping  a  little  he  said,  How  is  it 
that  the  disciples  of  Qhrist  are  so  fortunate  above  all  men  ? 
J.  Are  not  all  men  sinners,  and  deserving  of  punishment 
in  a  future  state  ?  Oo.  Yes,  all  must  suffer  in  some  future 
state  for  the  sins  they  commit.  The  punishment  follows  the 
crime  as  surely  as  the  wheel  of  the  cart  follows  the  footsteps 
of  the  ox.  J.  Xow,  according  to  the  Burman  system, 
there  is  no  escape.  According  to  the  Christian  svstem, 
there  is.  Jesus  Christ  has  died  in  the  place  of  sinners,  has 
borne  their  sins;  and  now  those  who  believe  on  him,  and 
become  his  disciples,  are  released  from  the  punishment  they 
deserve.  At  death,  they  are  received  into  heaven,  and  are 
(happy  forever.  Oo.  That  I  will  never  believe.  My  mind 
is  very  stiff  on  this  one  point,  namely,  that  all  existence 
involves  in  itself  principles  of  misery  and  destruction.  The 
whole  universe  is  only  destruction  and  reproduction.  It 
therefore  becomes  a  wise  man  to  raise  his  desires  above  all 
things  that  exist,  and  aspire  to  nigban,  the  state  where  there 


BUDDHISM.  141 

is  no  existence.  J.  Teacher,  there  are  two  evil  futurities, 
and  one  good.  A  miserable  future  existence  is  evil,  and  an- 
nihilation, or  nigban,  is  an  evil,  a  fearful  evil.  A  happy  fu- 
ture existence  is  alone  good.  Oo.  I  admit  that  is  best  if  it 
could  be  perpetual,  but  it  cannot  be.  Whatever  is,  is  liable 
to  change,  and  misery,  and  destruction.  Nigban  is  the  only 
permanent  good,  and  that  good  has  been  attained  by  Gau- 
dama,  the  last  deity.  /.  If  thero  be  no  eternal  being,  you 
cannot  account  for  any  thing.  Whence  this  world,  and  all 
that  we  see  ?  Oo.  Fate.  J.  Fate !  The  cause  must  al- 
ways be  equal  to  the  effect.  See,  I  raise  this  table.  See 
also  that  ant  under  it.  Suppose  I  were  invisible,  would  a 
wise  man  say  the  ant  raised  it  ?  Now,  fate  is  not  even  an 
ant.  Fate  is  a  word  ;  that  is  all.  It  is  not  an  agent ;  not  a 
thing.  What  is  fate?  Oo.' The  fate  of  creatures  is  the 
influence  which  their  good  or  bad  deeds  have  on  their  future 
existence.  J.  If  influence  be  exerted,  there  must  be  an 
exerter.  If  there  be  a  determination 'there  must  be  a  de- 
terminer. Oo.  No,  there  is  no  determiner.  There  cannot 
be  an  eternal  being.  J.  Consider  this  point.  It  is  a  main 
point  of  true  wisdom.  Whenever  there  is  an  execution  of 
a  purpose,  there  must  be  an  agent.  Oo.  (After  a  little 
thought.)  I  must  say  that  my  mind  is  very  decided  and 
hard,  and  unless  you  tell  me  something  more  to  the  pur- 
pose, I  shall  never  believe. 

4 

Buddhism  is  not,  in  itself,  an  immoral  system.  The 
communications  of  Gaudama,  forming  an  exceedingly- 
voluminous  body  of  sacred  literature,  have  proved,  so 
far  as  examined,  remarkably  pure  in  their  moral  tone. 
The  stories  of  Gaudama's  transmigrations,  extending 
through  many  hundred  volumes,  though  a  tissue  of 


142  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

extravagant  and  absurd  fancies,  are  entirely  free  from 
that  obscene  spirit  which  taints  the  sacred  legends  of 
the  Hindoos.  Its  moral  code,  though  aiming  chiefly 
at  the  regulation  of  the  outward  conduct,  is  based  on 
the  foundation  principles  of  morality.  "  Thou  shalt  not 
lie  ;  thou  shalt  not  kill ;  thou  shalt  not  steal ;  thou  shalt 
not  commit  adultery  ;  thou  shalt  not  drink  intoxicating 
liquors,"  are  its  five  cardinal  precepts.  It  also  incul- 
cates government  of  the  temper,  kindness  to  the  needy, 
and  purity  in  thought  as  well  as  in  action. 

But  were  its  morality  a  hundred-fold  more  excellent, 
Buddhism  would  still  be  entirely  wanting  in  vital  power. 
Its  incentives  to  a  life  of  virtue  are  purely  selfish  and 
sensual,  and  hence  cannot  touch  the  moral  nature. 
What  tendency,  on  the  one  hand,  has  the  fear  of  be- 
coming a  wild  beast  or  loathsome  reptile,  or  of  being 
broiled  for  ages  on  a  gridiron ;  or,  on  the  other,  the 
hope  of  the  physical  enjoyments  of  their  material 
Paradise,  or  of  the  unconscious  repose  of  nigban,  to 
change  a  sinjul  being  into  one  who  is  pure,  truthful, 
benevolent,  and  holy  ?  The  means  are  not,  in  the 
slightest  degree,  adapted  to  the  end.  Even  were  the 
penalty  annexed  to  sin  suited  to  influence  a  moral  being, 
its  force  is  nullified  by  the  idea  that  guilt  may  be 
balanced  by  merit,  and  that  the  merit  of  prostrations 
and  offerings  to  priests,  of  the  recitation  of  prayers, 


BUDDHISM.  143 

of  the  erection  of  pagodas  and  kyoungs,  stands  on  the 
same  level  with  the  highest  moral  excellence.  The  act 
highest  in  the  scale  of  virtue,  is  the  making  of  an  idol. 
Almsgiving  has  its  regular  gradations  of  merit,  founded 
not  upon  the  necessities,  but  the  rank  of  the  recipient. 
Thus,  while  charity  to  a  common  laborer  insures  "  long 
life,  beauty,  strength,  knowledge,  and  prosperity,"  only 
through  a  hundred  transmigrations,  the  influence  ex- 
tends through  two  thousand,  if  bestowed  on  one  of  the 
upper  classes,  still  more  if  on  a  priest.  Pure  benev- 
olence, founded  on  heartfelt  love  to  our  neighbor  as  a 
man  and  brother,  is  unknown  to  this  system.  Merit  or 
virtue  being,  moreover,  merely  so  much  capital  to  be 
invested  in  the  next  state  of  existence,  it  knows  nothing 
of  the  virtue  of  gratitude.  So  thoroughly  has  the  selfish 
principle  of  their  religion  moulded  the  popular  life, 
that  no  expression  equivalent  to  "  I  thank  you,"  is 
found  in  the  Burmese  language.  The  donor  bestows, 
and  the  needy  receives,  with  the  perfect  understanding 
on  both  sides  that  it  is  all  a  matter  of  pure  selfishness. 
That  divine  spirit  of  love,  by  which  Christianity  seeks 
to  draw  all  mankind  into  one  great  brotherhood,  is 
wholly  wanting  to  this  cold  and  dreary  system. 

Buddhism  has  been  not  inaptly  compared  to  an 
alabaster  image,  perfect  and  beautiful  to  the  eye,  but 
utterly  destitute  of  life.     No  living  Creator,  watching 


144  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

with  infinite  father-love  over  the  universe  which  he 
has  made,  caring  even  for  the  sparrow,  and  numbering 
the  very  hairs  of  our  heads ;  no  Redeemer,  to  whom 
the  weary,  guilty  soul  may  flee  for  pardon  and  comfort ; 
no  source  of  spiritual  life,  through  whose  divine  in- 
fluence the  soul  can  be  created  anew  in  the  image  of 
its  Father ;  no  heaven  of  eternal  bliss,  above  the  fear 
of  pain  or  change,  as  the  joyful  close  of  the  earthly 
pilgrimage  !  Imagine,  for  a  moment,  these  glorious 
truths  blotted  from  our  faith.  What  would  it  be  to  us, 
though  its  moral  precepts  were  left  in  all  their  purity  ? 
What  motives  to  virtue,  what  strength  in  temptation, 
what  consolation  to  the  fainting  soul  under  the  trials  of 
the  present  state,  could  it  offer?  The  change  would 
be  like  that  of  passing  from  the  regions  of  life  and 
light,  into  those  of  eternal  despair  and  the  shadow  of 
death.  But  it  is  especially  at  the  final  hour,  that 
Christianity  reveals  its  superiority  over  every  false 
system  of  religion.  Buddhism  has  no  comfort  for  the 
dying  sinner.  All  his  external  observances,  and  selfish 
acts  of  virtue,  cannot  silence  the  voice  of  that  law, 
written  on  the  soul  of  every  human  being,  which  de- 
mands "  truth  in  the  inward  parts."  They  cannot 
extinguish  the  sense  of  guilt,  and  of  coming  misery  due 
to  the  transgressor.  We  can  hardly  wonder,  then,  that 
the  poor  Buddhist,  casting  his  thoughts  forward  from 


BUDDHISM.  145 

the  verge  of  life  into  that  dark,  restless,  shoreless  sea 
of  transmigration,  should  sigh  for  the  eternal  sleep  of 
nigban,  as  the  one  boon  of  his  religion  worthy  of  the 
aspirations  of  the  truly  wise. 

Such,  at  this  moment,  is  the  only  religion  of  four 
hundred  millions  of  the  human  family  ! 

The  intimate  connection  between  the  theological 
tenets  of  Buddhism,  and  its  theory  of  the  material 
universe,  has  led  some  to  suppose  that  the  true  antidote 
to  its  power  was  to  be  found  in  science.  A  correct 
knowledge  of  geography  and  astronomy,  it  has  been 
said,  would  be  the  overthrow  of  Buddhism.  Did  the 
system  exist  merely  as  an  abstract  theory,  this  would 
be  a  just  view.  But  a  religion,  which  has  for  ages 
been  identifying  itself  with  the  life  of  a  nation,  cannot 
be  killed  by  destroying  its  scientific  basis.  It  has  a 
thousand  points  of  attachment,  through  which  it  draws 
sustenance,  quite  irrespective  of  the  root  from  which  it 
sprung. 

The  pretty  apologue,*  used  by  a  Karen  convert,  to 
illustrate  the  insidious  influence  of  sin,  applies  equally 
well  to  this  case.  "  The  Klur  f  said  to  the  Teak-tree  : 
*  Let  me  come  and  sleep  to-night  in  your  branches.' 

*  For  this  pleasing  specimen  >of  Karen  literature,  I  am  indebted 
to  Miss  Vinton,  who  lias  spent  thirteen  years  as  a  missionary  in 
Burmah,  chiefly  among  the  Karens. 

f  A  gigantic  parasitical  plant,  common  in  Burmab. 

10 


146  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

The  Teak  said,  *  You  may  come.'  So  the  Klur  crept 
up  the  trunk,  and  spread  itself  out  among  the  boughs 
of  the  noble  tree.  The  next  morning,  the  Teak  wished 
his  guest  to  depart ;  but  the  Klur  said,  '  Let  me  stay- 
one  night  longer.'  The  second  day  the.  same  thing 
was  repeated,  and  the  Klur  was  again  permitted  to 
remain.  But  on  the  third  morning,  when  the  Teak 
said,  *  Now  leave  me,'  the  Klur  answered :  '  Nay,  force 
me  to  do  it,  if  you  can  ! '  For  the  wily  plant  had  by 
this  time  so  fastened  itself  upon  its  hospitable  neigh- 
bor, that  it  was  no  longer  in  the  power  of  the  Teak  to  rid 
himself  of  it.  And  so,  rootless  as  it  was,  the  Klur 
grew  and  flourished,  feeding  itself  upon  the  sap  and 
juices  of  the  tree ;  nor  could  they  ever  again  be 
separated,  till  it  had  drained  out  the  life  of  its  sup- 
porter, and  both  fell  and  perished  together." 

Like  that  monstrous  serpent- plant,  Buddhism  had, 
for  centuries,  been  growing  with  the  life-growth  of 
society.  Generation  after  generation  had  come  up 
under  its  influence.  The  lisping  child  had  been  taught 
to  bow  down  to  the  image  of  Gaudama,  behind  its  little 
offering  of  rice  and  flowers.  The  glitter  of  the  tall 
pagoda  on  the  neighboring  hill,  and  the  tinkling  sym- 
phonies of  its  gilded  bells,  were  among  the  sweetest 
recollections  of  early  years.  A  national  literature  of 
no  mean  pretensions,  which  had  been,  for  centuries,  the 


BUDDHISM.  147 

chief  source  of  mental  culture  to  the  race,  was  the  mere 
efflorescence  of  the  ancient  faith.  The  priesthood, 
though  not  exercising  the  mysterious  spell  over  the 
popular  mind,  as  immediate  organs  and  representatives 
of  deity,  which  gives  to  many  false  systems  their  chief 
power,  nor  even  ministering  at  the  altar,  yet  formed  a 
strong  link  between  the  people  and  their  religion.  The 
Buddhist  priesthood  is  not,  like  the  Brahminic,  a  he- 
reditary caste.  Any  man  of  respectable  standing  in 
society  may  enter  its  ranks,  and,  if  he  chooses,  for  a 
limited  term ;  returning  at  its  expiration  to  secular 
business  without  reproach,  and  retaining,  through  life, 
an  important  accession  of  personal  dignity  and  influence. 
It  is  a  matter  of  family  pride  and  distinction  to  count 
at  least  one  representative  among  the  wearers  of  the 
yellow  robe  ;  and  hence,  according  to  Dr.  Judson's  tes- 
timony, "  the  priesthood  has  its  roots  in  almost  every 
family  of  respectability  in  Burmah."  Then  they  are 
the  national  schoolmasters ;  and,  as  such,  rank  de- 
servedly as  great  public  benefactors.  The  five  millions 
of  readers,  whom  Mr.  Judson  found  in  Burmah,  owed 
the  ability  solely  to  the  gratuitous  schools  taught  by 
the  priests,  every  rainy  season,  in  their  beautiful 
kyoungs.  Religion  and  education  were  thus  insepar- 
ably united  in  the  mind  of  the  community.  Add  to  these 
things,  that  Buddhism  is  the  established  religion  of  the 


148  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

empire,  sustained  by  the  monarch  to  whom  belong  the 
property,  persons,  lives,  and  consciences  of  his  subjects ; 
that  in  its  outward  forms  it  is  a  gorgeous  system,  well 
adapted  to  dazzle  the  senses  and  imagination ;  and 
finally,  take  into  the  account  the  tenacity  with  which 
the  human  heart  ever  clings  to  a  religion  of  works,  in 
preference  to  that  which  offers  salvation  freely  as  the 
gift  of  God,  —  and  we  see  that,  in  undertaking  to  un- 
dermine this  hoary  structure,  the  young  missionary  put 
his  hand  to  no  light  task.  But  he  knew  that  it  had 
one  vulnerable  point,  —  its  inadequacy  to  meet  the 
deepest  necessities  of  the  human  soul.  It  was  not  by 
lectures  on  cosmogony  and  geography  that  he  proposed 
making  his  assault,  but  by  speaking  directly  to  the 
conscience ;  proclaiming  an  eternal,  holy  God,  the 
Creator,  Upholder,  and  Judge  of  men,  and  an  atoning 
Saviour,  able  and  ready  to  save,  unto  the  uttermost,  all 
who  come  unto  God  by  him. 


CHAPTER  XIL 


THE    LANGUAGE. 


The  laborer  had  at  length  reached  his  chosen  field. 
It  stretched  out,  a  wretched,  sterile,  neglected  scene 
before  his  earnest  gaze,  and  his  heart  burned  with  desire 
to  be  at  work.  But  the  implements  of  labor  were 
yet  wanting.  The  acquisition  of  one  of  the  most  dif- 
ficult languages  ever  used  by  men,  lay  between  him 
and  the  first  stroke  of  missionary  service.  Among  the 
various  families  of  Indian  tongues,  the  Burmese  stood 
alone,  having  no  marked  affinities  with  any  which  had 
become  known  to  Europeans.  He  had  neither  gram- 
mar nor  dictionary  to  aid  his  first  steps ;  nor  was  a 
teacher  to  be  found  who  understood  both  Burman  and 
English. 

Nor  would  such  a  familiarity  with  the  language,  as 
might  suffice  for  the  transaction  of  ordinary  business, 
or  for  mere  literary  research,  answer  his  purpose. 
The  task  he  set  for  himself  was  such  a  command  of 
it,  as  would  render  it  an  instrument  no  less  pliant  to 


150  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

his  will,  in  every  variety  of  mental  process,  than  his 
mother- tongue.  To  perform  the  whole  work  of  a 
pioneer  missionary,  in  this  peculiar  sphere  of  labor,  he 
must  become  an  author  in  the  language^  a  popular 
preacher,  a  metaphysical  reasoner,  a  translator  of  the 
Scriptures.  All  this  he  accomplished,  and,  in  every 
particular,  with  preeminent  success.  —  Which  of  our 
best  German  scholars,  in  this  country,  would  under- 
take such  exploits 'in  that  kindred  tongue;  for  instance, 
to  conduct  philosophic  debates  with  the  disciples  of 
Hegel  or  Schelling,  or  to  compose  religious  treatises, 
or  to  prepare  a  new  version  of  the  Scriptures,  for  the 
use  of  our  transatlantic  cousins?  In  the  Burman, 
the  difficulty  was  incomparably  greater.  A  writer  in 
the  Calcutta  Review  thus  speak  of  its  characteristics : 
"  Some  languages,  however,  —  and  the  Burman  is  one, 
—  seem  to  mould  themselves  with  great  difficulty  to 
the  elimination  of  thought,  in  the  intermediate  stages 
of  a  continued  chain  of  close  argument.  In  such 
languages  an  argument,  or  train  of  reasoning,  appears 
to  advance  with  abrupt  steps,  the  mind  being  left  to 
trace  and  fill  up  their  connection.  The  resulting 
formula  has  to  be  reached,  dropping  out,  as  it  were, 
some  of  the  intermediate  equations.  Let  our  readers 
dwell  for  a  moment  upon  the  difficulty,  in  their  own 
powerful  Saxon  tongue,  of  discoursing  upon   freewill, 


THE    LANGUAGE.  151 

I 

predestination,  and  many  other  such  subjects,  and 
then  endeavor  to  realize  to  themselves  how  infinitely 
more  difficult  the  attempt  must  be  in  a  language  of 
monosyllabic  formation  and  structure  ;  its  very  polysyl- 
lables being  the  roughest  possible  mosaic  of  monosyl- 
lables, and  the  genius  and  construction  of  the  language 
such  that  even  the  simple  language  of  the  gospels  — 
the  sentences  of  which  are,  in  general,  so  remarkably 
plain  and  free  from  complication — is  beyond  its  flexi- 
bility, the  simplest  sentences  in  the  gospels  of  Mark 
or  John  having  to  be  chopped  up  and  decomposed,  in 
order  to  adapt  them  to  this  peculiar  language."  Nor 
does  even  this  present  the  whole  difficulty.  As  the  off- 
spring of  heathen  mind,  this  strange  tongue  furnished, 
naturally,  no  terms  for  Christian  ideas.  To  this  he 
must  himself  mould  it,  after  having  first  transferred  its 
whole  capacity  of  expression  to  his  own  tiind, 

To  this  gigantic  task  Judson  addressed  himself  with 
the  same  force  of  resolution  by  which  he  had  pushed 
his  way,  against  all  obstacles,  into  the  missionary  field. 
It  was,  indeed,  a  kind  of  labor  to  which  he  was  singu- 
larly adapted  by  his  intellectual  gifts  and  habits.  Not 
that  he  was  one  of  those  linguistic  prodigies,  who 
sometimes  astonish  the  world  by  their  monstrous 
facility,  in  catching  the  mere  words  and  phrases  of  a 
foreign  tongue.     His  ability,  in  this  respect,   did   not 


152  THE    EARNEST    MAN.  « 

exceed  that  of  most  well-balanced  and  well-trained 
minds.  We  find  that  Mrs.  Judson  learned  to  speak 
the  Burman  with  fluency  sooner  than  he  did.  But  for 
feeling  his  way  into  the  heart  of  a  language,  and  fol- 
lowing out  its  innate  principles  of  development,  till  the 
whole  structure  stood  in  characteristic  form  before  his 
eye,  —  in  this  he  has  had  few  equals,  and  probably 
no  superiors.  It  was  not  so  much  quickness  as  method  ; 
the  action  of  a  mind  naturally  clear  and  vigorous,  but 
indebted,  for  its  unerring  precision  and  force  of  move- 
ment, to  his  long  course  of  severe  intellectual  training. 
Had  he  allowed  himself,  while  at  school  and  college, 
to  contract  habits  of  superficial  study,  or  had  he  cut 
short  the  term  of  preparation  that  he  might  hasten 
two  or  three  years  sooner  to  the  field  of  labor,  how 
different  would  have  been  the  result !  That  familiarity 
with  the  general  laws  of  language,  and  with  the  genius 
of  various  languages  which  he  had  derived  from  a 
critical  study  of  the  classical  and  Hebrew  tongues, 
were,  in  his  case,  what  Belzoni's  researches  among  the 
labyrinths  of  Thebes  were  to  him,  when  he  sat  down 
before  the  blank  wall  of  the  pyramid  of  Cephrenes, 
and  reasoned  out  the  passage  to  its  interior  treasures. 
No  time,  after  arriving  on  missionary  ground,  was 
wasted  in  blundering  guesswork ;  every  step  he  ad- 
vanced was  taken  once  for  all.     Within  three  years 


THE    LANGUAGE.  153 

after  entering  Burmah,  the  man  who  ha$  acquired  his 
first  little  stock  of  words  by  pointing  to  the  common 
objects  about  him,  and  catching  their  names  from  the 
lips  of  the  natives,  prepared  a  grammar  of  the  lan- 
guage, which  must  be  reckoned  among  the  most  re- 
markable productions  in  the  field  of  philology,,  It  was 
printed,  twenty -six  years  after,  at  the  mission  press,  in 
Maulmain ;  and  is  thus  spoken  of  in  a  notice  of  Dr. 
Judson's  literary  labors,  in  the  Calcutta  Review :  "  He 
published  another  work,  a  grammar,  of  no  pretensions, 
and  of  very  small  dimensions,  yet  a  manual  which 
indicated  the  genius  of  the  man,  perhaps,  more  strik- 
ingly than  any  thing  else,  except  his  Bible.  He  has 
managed,  from  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  language, 
to  condense  into  a  few  short  pages  [only  seventy-six] 
a  most  complete  grammar  of  this  difficult  tongue ;  and 
as  the  student  grows  in  knowledge,  pari  passu,  this 
little  volume  rises  in  his  estimation ;  for  its  lucid,  com- 
prehensive conciseness  becomes  more  and  more  mani- 
fest. In  our  limited  acquaintance  with  languages, 
whether  of  the  East  or  West,  we  have  seen  no  work 
in  any  tongue  which  we  should  compare  with  this  in 
brevity  and  completeness ;  yet  we  have,  in  our  day,  had 
to  study  and  wade  through  some  long,  and  some  would- 
be  short  grammars." 

But  the  mere  philosophical  analysis  of  the  language 


154  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

had  little  interest  for  him,  except  as  the  means  to  a 
practical  end.  For  his  purposes,  he  must  not  Only 
learn  to  know  the  language,  but  to  live  it ;  it  must  be 
not  the  mere  tree-skeleton,  as  it  stands  in  the  winter  of 
our  frigid  clime,  stiffly  pencilled  against  the  sky ;  but 
the  tree  of  summer,  waving  and  rustling  with  its  crown 
of  innumerable  leaves,  and  full  of  the  mysterious  mur- 
murs and  many- voiced  music  of  human  life.  He  had 
received  from  nature  that  poetic  warmth  of  tempera- 
ment, that  delicacy  of  taste  and  sensibility,  necessary 
to  apprehend  the  living  forms  of  speech  in  their  infinite 
variety  of  shape  and  hue ;  and  these  fine  natural  instincts 
had  been  richly  cultivated  by  the  study  of  classic  and 
English  literature.  He  now  made  it  his  great  business 
to  strip  from  his  mind  the  specific  forms  of  his  previous 
culture,  and  wholly  remould  and  reclothe  it  in  those  of 
a  new  and  strange  speech  ;  to  become  literally  a  Bur- 
man  to  the  Burmans,  that  he  might  at  least  save  some 
of  them.  His  perfect  success  in  this  attempt  will  ap- 
pear through  the  whole  course  of  the  subsequent  nar- 
rative. Deliberately  abjuring  the  use  of  English,  he 
talked  and  read  Burman,  till  his  inward  life  became 
identified  with  it ;  till  his  intellectual  processes,  and  his 
very  emotions,  poured  themselves  in  this  new  channel 
with  even  a  freer  and  fuller  current,  than  ever  they  had 
done,  or  perhaps  could  have  done  in  his  native  tongue  ; 


•the  language.  155 

for  there  was  something  of  oriental  fervor  in  his  nature, 
to  which  the  coldnej>s  and  reserve  of  English  expres- 
sion would  always  have  been  a  restraint. 

To  the  study  of  the  living  language  he  soon  added 
that  of  the  Pali,  the  language  of  the  sacred  books, 
through  which  the  religion  of  Gaudama  was  first  intro- 
duced into  the  empire.  Its  structure  he  found  entirely 
dissimilar  to  the  Burman ;  it  being  a  dialect  of  the 
Sanscrit,  with  which  the  latter  has  no  affinity.  But  so 
many  of  it3  words  had  been  introduced  into  the  vernac- 
ular, especially  as  theological  terms,  that  some  knowl- 
edge of  it  was  necessary  to  accuracy  in  the  communica- 
tion of  religious  ideas,  and  indispensable  to  a  translator 
of  the  Scriptures.  He  found  the  number  of  its  words  in 
use  to  be  about  four  thousand.  These  he  first  arranged 
into  a  dictionary,  with  Burman  definitions ;  then  the  cor- 
responding Burman  words  into  a  second  part,  with  Eng- 
lish definitions.  He  afterwards  prepared  a  larger  Burman 
and  English  dictionary,  which  was  probably  completed 
in  1817,  and  was  printed  in  1826.  In  thus  putting 
into  permanent  form  the  results  of  his  labors,  he  aimed 
to  lay  a  solid  basis  for  the  future  operations  of  the 
mission. 

The  following  letters,  which  all  belong  to  the  third 
year  of  the  mission,  present  an  interesting  view  of  the 


156  THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

progress  of  his  studies,  as  well  as  of  the  living  missionary 
spirit  which  he  carried  into  his  literary  labors. 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bolles. 

Eangoon,  January  16,  1816. 
Dear  Brother:  Yours  of  March,  1815, 1  lately  received, 
and  read  with  real  satisfaction.  Neither  Brother  Bice  nor 
any  of  the  others  that  you  mention  have  yet  been  heard  of 
in  these  parts.  May  they  not  be  far  distant.  Whenever 
they  shall  arrive,  I  hope  to  be  of  some  real  service  to  them 
in  their  preparatory  studies,  and  to  be  able  to  give  them,  in 
a  short  time,  information  on  many  points  which  it  has  cost 
me  months  to  acquire.  I  just  now  begin  to  see  my  way  for- 
ward in  this  language,  and  hope  that  two  or  three  years  more 
will  make  it  somewhat  familiar ;  but  I  have  met  with  difficul- 
ties that  I  had  no  idea  of  before  I  entered  upon  the  work. 
For  a  European  or  American  to  acquire  a  living  oriental 
language,  root  and  branch,  and  make  it  his  own,  is  quite  a 
different  thing  from  his  acquiring  a  cognate  language  of  the 
West,  or  any  of  the  dead  languages,  as  they  are  studied  in 
the  schools.  One  circumstance  may  serve  to  illustrate  this. 
I  once  had  occasion  to  devote  about  two  months  to  the  study 
of  the  French.  I  have  now  been  above  two  years  engaged 
on  the  Burman  ;  but  if  I  were  to  choose  between  a  Burman 
and  a  French  book  to  be  examined  in,  without  previous 
study,  I  should,  without  the  least  hesitation,  choose  the 
French.  When  we  take  up  a  western  language,  the  similarity 
in  the  characters,  in  very  many  terms,  in  many  modes  of 
expression,  and  in  the  general  structure  of  sentences,  its 
being  in  fair  print,  (a  circumstance  we  hardly  think  of,)  and 
the  assistance  of  grammars,  dictionaries,  and  instructors,  ren- 
der the  work  comparatively  easy.     But  when  we  take  up  a 


THE    LANGUAGE.  157 

language  spoken  by  a  people  on  the  other  side  of  the  earth, 
whose  very  thoughts  run  in  channels  diverse  from  ours,  and 
whose  modes  of  expression  are  consequently  all  new  and 
uncouth ;  when  we  find  the  letters  and  words  all  totally  des- 
titute of  the  least  resemblance  to  any  language  we  had  ever 
met  with,  and  tfyese  words  not  fairly  divided  and  distinguished, 
as  in  western  writing,  by  breaks  and  points,  and  capitals,  but 
run  together  in  one  continuous  line,  a  sentence  or  paragraph 
seeming  to  the  eye  but  one  long  word ;  when,  instead  of 
clear  characters  on  paper,  we  find  only  obscure  scratches  on 
dried  palm  leaves  strung  together  and  called  a  book ;  when 
we  have  no  dictionary,  and  no  interpreter  to  explain  a  single 
word,  and  must  get  something  of  the  language  before  we  can 
avail  ourselves  of  the  assistance  of  a  native  teacher, — 

"Hoc  opus,  hie  labor  est." 

I  had  hoped,  before  I  came  here,  that  it  would  not  be  my 
lot  to  have  to  go  on  alone,  without  any  guide  in  an  unex- 
plored path,  especially  as  missionaries  had  been  here  before. 
But  Mr.  Chater  had  left  the  country,  and  Mr.  Carey  was  with 
me  but  very  little,  before  he  left  the  mission  and  the  mission- 
ary work  altogether. 

I  long  to  write  something  more-interesting  and  encouraging 
to  the  friends  of  the  mission  ;  but  it  must  not  yet  be  expected. 
It  unavoidably  takes  several  years  to  acquire  such  a  lan- 
guage, in  order  to  converse  and  write  intelligibly  on  the 
great  truths  of  the  gospel.  Dr.  Carey  once  told  me,  that 
after  he  had  been  some  years  in  Bengal,  and  thought  he  was 
doing  very  well  in  conversing  and  preaching  to  the  natives, 
they  (as  he  was  afterwards  convinced)  knew  not  what  he 
was  about  A  young  missionary  who  expects  to  pick  up  the 
language  in  a  year  or  two  will  probably  find  that  he  has  not 
counted  the  cost.     If  he  should  be  so  fortunate  as  to  find  a 


158  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

good  interpreter,  he  may  be  useful  by  that  means.  But  he 
will  find,  especially  if  he  is  in  a  new  place,  where  the  way  is 
not  prepared,  and  no  previous  ideas  communicated,  that  to 
qualify  himself  to  communicate  divine  truth  intelligibly  by 
his  own  voice  or  pen,  is  not  the  work  of  a  year.  However, 
notwithstanding  my  present  incompetency,  I  am  beginning 
to  translate  the  New  Testament,  being  extremely  anxious  to 
get  some  parts  of  Scripture,  at  least,  into  an  intelligible 
shape,  if  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  read,  as  occasion 
offers,  to  the  Burmans  I  meet  with. 

My  paper  allows  me  to  add  nothing  more  but  to  beg  your 
prayers,  that  while  I  am  much  occupied  in  words  and  phrases, 
and  destitute  of  those  gospel  privileges  you  so  richly  enjoy, 
in  the  midst  of  your  dear  church  and  people,  I  may  not  lose 
the  life  of  religion  in  my  soul. 

I  remain,  dear  brother, 

Yours  very  affectionately, 

A.  Judson,  Jr. 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Staughton. 

I  am  sometimes  a  little  dispirited,  when  I  reflect  that,  for 
two  or  three  years  past,  I  have  been  drilling  at  A,  B,  C,  and 
grammar.  But  I  consider  again  that  the  gift  of  tongues  is 
not  granted  in  these  times ;  that  some  one  must  acquire  this 
language  by  dint  of  application ;  must  translate  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  must  preach  the  gospel  to  the  people  in  their  own 
tongue,  or  how  can  they  be  saved  ?  My  views  of  the  mis- 
sionary object  are,  indeed,  different  from  what  they  were, 
when  I  was  first  set  on  fire  by  Buchanan's  "  Star  in  the 
East,"  six  years  ago.  But  it  does  not  always  happen  that  a 
closer  acquaintance  with  an  object  diminishes  our  attachment 
and  preference.  We  sometimes  discover  beauties,  as  well  as 
deformities,  which  were  overlooked  on  a  superficial  view ; 


THE    LANGUAGE.  159 

when  some  attractions  lose  their  force,  others  more  perma- 
nent and  exerted ;  and  when  the  glitter  in  which  novelty- 
invested  the  object  has  passed  away,  more  substantial  excel- 
lences  have  room  to  disclose  their  influence ;  and  so  it  has 
been  with  me,  I  hope,  in  regard  to  the  work  of  missions. 
I  remain,  reverend  and  dear  Sir, 

Yours  affectionately  in  the  Lord, 

A.  Judson,  Jr. 

To  the  Rev.  Luther  Rice. 

Rangoon,  August  8,  1816. 

My  dear  Brother  Rice:  I  have  completed  a  gram- 
mar of  the  Burman  language,  which  I  hope  will  be  useful  to 
you ;  also  a  tract,  which  I  hope  to  get  printed  as  soon  as  Mr. 
Hough  arrives. 

If  any  ask  what  success  I  meet  with  among  the  natives, 
tell  them  to  look  at  Otaheite,  where  the  missionaries  labored 
nearly  twenty  years,  and,  not  meeting  with  the  slightest  suc- 
cess, began  to  be  neglected  by  all  the  Christian  world,  and 
the  very  name  of  Otaheite  began  to  be  a  shame  to  the  cause 
of  missions  ;  and  now  the  blessing  begins  to  come.  Tell 
them  to  look  at  Bengal,  also,  where  Dr.  Thomas  had  been 
laboring  seventeen  years  (that  is,  from  1783  to  1800)  before 
the  first  convert,  Krishma,  was  baptized.  When  a  few  con- 
verts are  once  made,  things  move  on ;  but  it  requires  a  much 
longer  time  than  I  have  been  here  to  make  a  first  impression 
on  a  heathen  people.  If  they  ask  again,  What  prospect  of 
ultimate  success  is  there  ?  tell  them,  As  much  as  that  there  is 
an  almighty  and  faithful  God,  who  will  perform  his  promises, 
and  no  more.  If  this  does  not  satisfy  them,  beg  them  to  let 
me  stay  and  try  it,  and  to  let  you  come,  and  to  give  us  our 
bread;  or,  if  they  are  unwilling  to  risk  their  bread  on  such  a 
forlorn  hope  as  has  nothing  but  the  Word  of  God  to  sustain 


160  THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

it,  beg  of  them,  at  least,  not  to  prevent  others  from  giving  us 
bread  ;  and,  if  we  live  some  twenty  or  thirty  years,  they  may 
hear  from  us  again. 

This  climate  is  good — better  than  in  any  other  part  of  the 
East  But  it  is  a  most  filthy,  wretched  place.  Missionaries 
must  not  calculate  on  the  least  comfort,  but  what  they  find 
in  one  another  and  their  work.  However,  if  a  ship  was  lying 
in  the  river,  ready  to  convey  me  to  any  part  of  the  world  I 
should  choose,  and  that,  too,  with  the  entire  approbation  of 
all  my  Christian  friends,  I  would  prefer  dying  to  embarking. 
This  is  an  immense  field,  and,  since  the  Serampore  mission- 
aries have  left  it,  it  is  wholly  thrown  on  the  hands  of  the 
American  Baptists.  If  we  desert  it,  the  blood  of  the  Bur- 
mans  will  be  required  of  us. 

_  Yours  ever, 

A.  Judson,  Jr. 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin. 

Rangoon,  August  5, 1816. 
Rev.  and  dear  Sir  :  It  is  about  seven  months  since  I 
wrote  to  America.  The  first  three  months  of  this  time  I 
was  employed  on  the  Burman  language  in  a  more  interesting 
manner  than  I  had  ever  been.  I  began  to  enter  into  my 
studies  with  such  pleasure  and  spirit,  and  to  make  such  rapid 
progress,  as  encouraged  me  to  hope  that  the  time  was  not  far 
distant  when  I  should  be  able  to  commence  missionary  opera- 
tions. I  was  going  forward  in  a  course  of  most  valuable 
Burman  reading,  and,  at  the  same  time,  had  begun  to  trans- 
late one  of  the  Gospels,  and  to  write  a  View  of  the  Christian 
Religion,  in  Burman,  which,  in  imagination,  were  already  fin- 
ished, and  circulating  among  the  natives,  when,  all  of  a  sud- 
den, in  the  midst  of  the  hot  season,  which,  in  this  country,  is 
most  severe  during  the  months  of  March  and  April,  I  was 


%    THE    LANGUAGE.  161 

seized  with  a  distressing  weakness  and  pain  in  my  eyes  and 
head,  which  put  a  stop  to  all  my  delightful  pursuits,  and  re- 
duced me  to  a  pitiable  state  indeed.  Since  that  time,  except- 
ing at  some  intervals,  I  have  been  unable  to  read,  or  write, 
or  make  any  exertion  whatever.  Sometimes  I  have  almost 
given  up  the  hope  that  I  should  ever  be  of  any  more  service ; 
sometimes  I  have  been  on  the  point  of  trying  a  short  voyage 
at  sea.  This  last  was  my  intention,  when  I  heard  of  brother 
Hough's  arrival  in  Bengal,  and  concluded  to  wait  until  he 
should  be  settled  here,  when  I  could  leave  more  conven- 
iently. But,  thanks  be  to  God,  it  is  now  ten  days  since  I 
have  experienced  a  turn  of  severe  pain,  though  I  still  feel 
great  weakness  in  my  head,  and,  indeed,  throughout  my 
whole  nervous  system.  I  begin  now  to  hope  that  I  shall 
gradually  recover,  though  I  fear  I  never  shall  be  as  I  for- 
merly was. 

During  my  illness,  when  able  to  do  any  thing,  I  have  em- 
ployed myself  in  collecting  what  knowledge  I  have  hitherto 
acquired  of  the  language,  and  putting  it  together  in  the 
shape  of  a  grammar,  that  it  might  not  be  wholly  lost  to 
others.  My  tract,  also,  is  at  length  ready  for  the  press,  and 
I  send  a  copy  by  this  conveyance  to  Philadelphia,  which  may 
be  some  gratification  to  the  Board.  I  would  send  a  copy  of 
the  grammar  also,  if  I  was  able,  but  it  is  too  bulky  to  be 
transcribed,  in  my  present  state. 

I  expect  it  will  not  be  long  before  I  shall  be  ordered  up  to 
Ava.  The  press,  also,  which  has  just  arrived  from  Bengal, 
will  not  probably  be  allowed  to  stop  long  in  Rangoon.  This 
will  open  a  wide  fit-Id,  and  make  it  necessary  to  support  two 
stations.  I  beg,  therefore,  that  the  Board  will  endeavor  to 
send  out  one  or  two  men  with  brother  Rice,  or  as  soon  after 
as  possible.  The  sooner  they  are  on  the  grouud,  learning 
the  language,  the  sooner  they  will  be  fit  for  service.  I  have 
never  before  thought  it  prudent  to  write  for  more  men  in  ad- 
11 


162  THE    EARNEST   MAN.* 

dition  to  those  I  knew  were  already  destined  to  the  place. 
But  some  favorable  prospects  lately  begin  to  open,  and  the 
more  I  become  acquainted  with  the  state  of  things,  the  less 
reason  I  have  to  fear  that  the  government  of  the  country 
will,  at  present,  oppose  the  work. 

We  know  not  the  designs  of  God  in  regard  to  this  coun- 
try ;  but  I  cannot  but  have  raised  expectations.  It  is  true 
we  may  have  to  labor  and  wait  many  years  before  the  bless- 
ing comes.  But  we  see  what  God  is  doing  in  other  heathen 
lands,  after  trying  the  faith  and  sincerity  of  his  servants, 
some  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  Look  at  Otaheite,  Bengal, 
Africa.  And  is  Burmah  to  remain  a  solitary  instance  of  the 
inefficacy  of  prayer,  of  the  forgetfulness  of  a  merciful  and 
faithful  God  V  Is  it  nothing  that  an  attempt  is  begun  to  be 
made ;  that,  in  one  instance,  the  language  is  considerably  ac- 
quired ;  that  a  tract  is  ready  for  publication,  which  is  intelli- 
gible and  perspicuous,  and  will  give  the  Burmans  their  Jirst 
ideas  of  a  Saviour  and  the  way  of  salvation ;  that  a  press  and 
types  have  now  arrived,  and  a  printer  is  on  the  way  ;  that  a 
grammar  is  finished,  to  facilitate  the  studies  of  others,  and  a 
dictionary  of  the  language  is  in  a  very  forward  state ;  and 
that  the  way  is  now  prepared,  as  soon  as  health  permits,  to 
proceed  slowly  in  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament  ?  Is 
it  nothing  that,  just  at  this  time,  the  monarch  of  the  country 
has  taken  a  violent  hate  to  the  priests  of  his  own  religion, 
and  is  endeavoring,  with  all  his  power,  to  extirpate  the  whole 
order,  at  the  same  time  professing  to  be  an  inquirer  after  the 
true  religion  ?  Is  all  this  to  be  set  down  a  mere  cipher  ?  It 
is  true  that  we  may  desire  much  more.  But  let  us  use  what 
we  have,  and  God  will  give  us  more.  However,  men  and 
-money  must  be  forthcoming.  Work  cannot  be  done  without 
men,  and  men  cannot  work  without  bread  ;  nor  can  we  ex- 
pect the  ravens  to  feed  them  in  ordinary  cases.  I  do  not 
say  several  hundred  missionaries  are  needed  here.    This, 


THE    LANGUAGE.  163 

though  true,  would  be  idle  talk.  My  request  I  think  modest. 
Five  men,  allowing  two  or  three  to  each  of  the  stations,  is 
the  smallest  number  that  will  possibly  answer. 

I  have  received  one  letter  only  from  Dr.  Baldwin  ;  Mrs 
Judson  has  also  received  one.  I  hope  that  brother  Hough  is 
the  bearer  of  others.  We  expect  him  by  the  first  opportu- 
nity. 

With  the  greatest  respect,  yours,  &c. 

A.  Judson,  Jr. 

Let  no  young  candidate  for  ministerial  or  missionary 
work  plead,  after  reading  these  letters,  that  progress  in 
piety  is  incompatible  with  devotion  to  study.  Here  is 
a  man,  not  yet  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  cut  off  for 
nearly  three  years  from  the  advantages  of  Christian 
society,  of  public  worship,  and  of  active  exertion  in  the 
cause  of  religion,  and  during  this  whole  time  immersed 
in  the  study  of  a  pagan  language  and  literature.  Yet 
the  early  glow  of  faith,  of  zeal,  of  noble  resolution,  has 
experienced  no  chill.  Is  it  said  that  the  studies,  on 
which  he  was  engaged,  were  destitute  of  those  seduc- 
tive charms  which  beguile  the  young  votary  of  classic 
literature?  Judson  had  not  found  them  so.  Few, 
probably,  have  estimated  what  was  involved  in  this  long 
course  of  preparatory  labor.  In  the  Burman  literature, 
with  which  he  was  in  such  constant  and  immediate  con- 
tact year  after  year,  a  wide  and  curious  field  of  research 
was  opened,  presenting  peculiar  fascinations  to  such  a 


164  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

mind.  This  singular  phase  of  the  human  intellect, — 
the  language  itself,  with  its  novel  modes  of  express- 
ing thought ;  these  strange  conceptions  of  material  and 
spiritual  being  ;  these  extravagant,  grotesque,  yet  often 
beautiful  creations  of  oriental  fancy ;  how  could  all  this 
fail  to  lay  a  strong  grasp  on  the  scholar  and  the  man 
of  taste  ?  That  it  did  so,  we  have  ample  proof.  The 
flowers  of  Burmese  literature  would  never  have  so 
rooted  themselves  in  a  mind  that  did  not  delight  in 
their  beauty.  His  memory  teemed  with  its  treasures 
of  sacred  song  and  legend ;  and  their  very  spirit  was 
so  transfused  into  his  own  writings,  that  the  most  crit- 
ical Burman  scholar  could  not  distinguish  them  from 
native  compositions. 

Now  what  was  the  spell  by  which  this  was  rendered 
harmless,  so  that  his  Christian  growth  suffered  no  check 
in  the  process  ?  Simply  this,  —  a  ruling  moral  purpose, 
to  which  all  else  was  merely  subsidiary  ;  which,  select- 
ing every  occupation  with  reference  to  its  own  great 
ends,  drew  it  within  the  sphere  of  the  spiritual  life  and 
sanctified  it  to  the  service  of  religion.  These  treasures 
of  oriental  lore  might,  if  judiciously  displayed,  have 
made  a  European  fame  for  the  humble  missionary.  But 
so  free  from  all  motives  of  personal  vanity  and  ambition 
were  these  literary  acquisitions,  that  we  find  no  allusion 
to  them  even  in  his  letters,  except  for  the  brief  expla- 


THE   LANGUAGE.  165 

nation  of  some  point  of  direct  missionary  interest.  Once, 
it  is  said,  he  for  a  time  entertained  the  idea  of  awaken- 
ing a  livelier  missionary  spirit  at  home,  by  making 
known  these  interesting  productions  of  Burmaji  mind. 
But  perceiving,  on  reflection,  thafr  this  would  involve  a 
serious  diversion  of  his  time  and  thoughts  from  proper 
missionary  work,  he  deliberately  relinquished  the  plan, 
and  never  again  resumed  it. 

We  see,  then,  that  the  absence  of  intellectual  en- 
thusiasm in  a  Christian  minister,  and  the  neglect  of  all 
studies  but  those  which  are  strictly  religious,  are  not 
necessary  conditions  of  exalted  piety.  The  life  of  an 
earnest  Christian  is  a  sublime  unity ;  not  because  he 
rejects  all  that  belongs  to  the  world,  but  because  he 
assimilates  all  to  the  central  object  of  his  life, —  the 
glory  of  God,  and  the  good  of  man. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

MISSIONARY   SPIRIT   AMONG   AMERICAN   BAPTISTS. 
VICISSITUDES    OP   THE    MISSION. 

Early  in  the  month  of  September,  1815,  our  lonely 
missionaries  were  cheered  by  the  first  parcel  of  letters 
from  America.  For  more  than  two  years,  they  had 
labored  in  Burmah,  uncertain  as  to  the  result  of  their 
appeal  to  American  Baptists.  Thus  far,  their  neces- 
sities had  been  supplied  by  the  noble-spirited  brethren 
at  Serampore ;  but  pressed  as  they  were  to  the  utmost 
for  the  support  of  their  own  mission,  this  could  only  be 
a  temporary  dependence.  Firmly  believing,  however, 
that  God  had  sent  them  to  Burmah,  Mr.  xand  Mrs. 
Judson  had  given  themselves  to  the  field  with  a  devo- 
tion as  entire,  and  had  worked  on  the  same  breadth  of 
plan,  as  if  sure  it  was  to  be  their  home  for  life.  With 
the  same  constancy  of  heart  they  would,  no  doubt, 
have  maintained  the  post,  even  if  obliged,  as  they  had 
once  anticipated,  to  labor  with  their  own  hands  for  food 
and   clothing.     Yet   it  must  have  been  with  anxious 


MISSIONARY  SPIRIT  AMONG  AMERICAN  BAPTISTS.      167 

eye?,  that  they  sought  in  the  various  letters  of  the 
precious  parcel  for  the  wished-for  news  ;  and  we  can- 
not wonder  at  their  joyful  burst  of  feeling,  on  finding 
themselves,  and  the  cause  dearer  to  them  than  life, 
welcomed  to  the  heart  of  the  Baptist  denomination. 

The  intelligence  of  their  change  of  views  had 
reached  this  country  in  January,  1813.  It  was  soon 
evident  that  self-distrust,  rather  than  lack  of  interest, 
had  hitherto  prevented  the  active  participation  of 
Baptists  in  the  missionary  enterprise.  No  sooner  was 
heard  the  voice  of  one  fitted  for  the  work,  saying 
"  Here  am  I,  send  me !  "  than  a  response,  full  of  Chris- 
tian warmth,  came  up  from  all  parts  of  the  la«d. 
Situated  as  we  then  were,  the  detached  churches  scat- 
tered over  a  vast  extent  of  territory,  with  no  organiza- 
tions which  could  form  a  medium  of  communication 
and  of  united  action,  the  movements  which  followed 
must  be  regarded  as  a  true  index  to  the  spirit  of  our 
churches.  Its  source  was,  not  the  intelligence  which 
comes  from  education,  but  that  experimental  Bible 
piety,  which  was  then  the  one  glory  of  the  Baptist 
name. 

Immediately  on  receiving  the  letters  of  Mr.  Judson, 
and  the  Serampore  brethren,  of  September,  1812,  the 
leading  brethren  of  Boston  and  its  vicinity,  after  hav- 
ing first  ascertained  that  the  American  Board  of  Com- 


168  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

missioners  no  longer  regarded  Mr.  Judson  as  their 
missionary,  organized  a  "  Society  for  Propagating  the 
Gospel  in  India  and  other  Foreign  Parts,"  whjch  as- 
sumed at  once  the  responsibility  of  his  support.  They 
did  not,  indeed,  decide  to  undertake  at  present  an 
independent  mission  ;  but  with  a  very  proper  deference 
to  the  superior  knowledge  of  those  who  had  been  so 
long  familiar  with  the  ground,  waived  that  question 
till  they  should  hear  from  England  and  Serampore. 
They  committed  their  missionary,  meanwhile,  to  the 
Christian  sympathies  and  the  direction  of  the  Seram- 
pore brethren,  pledging  themselves  for  his  expenses, 
and  expressing  the  hope  of  being  able  to  raise,  over 
and  above  this,  a  contribution  to  the  general  mission 
fund.  "  We  shall  e§teem  it,"  says  Dr.  Sharp,  in  his 
letter  on  the  subject  to.  Andrew  Fuller,  "an  honor 
and  a  pleasure  to  render  him  that  pecuniary  aid,  which 
from  time  to  time  he  may  need.  Indeed,  we  expect 
that  our  exertions  will  not  be  limited  to  the  support  of 
our  American  brother;  but  that  we  shall  be  able  to 
forward  to  Serampore  a  willing  tribute  for  the  promo- 
tion of  the  general  cause."  The  proposal  of  a  coali- 
tion, made  in  these  letters,  has  often  been  compared 
with  that  made  by  the  American  Board  to  the  London 
Missionary  Society.  It  will  be  seen,  however,  that 
there  were  some  important  points  of  difference* 


MISSIONARY  SPIRIT  AMONG  AMERICAN  BAPTISTS.      169 

The  information,  received  a  few  weeks  later,  that  Mr. 
Rice  also  had  become  a  Baptist,  gave  a  fresh  stimulus 
to  the  missionary  spirit,  and  societies  were  rapidly- 
formed  in  all  the  principal  cities  of  the  Union.-  It  was 
soon  felt  that  the  concert  of  measures  necessary  to 
harmonious  and  efficient  action,  demanded  some  gen- 
eral organization,  in  which  the  societies  of  different 
sections  could  be  represented.  Steps  had  already  been 
taken  to  secure  this  obj<vt,  when  Mr.  Rice  arrived 
from  India.  He  was  immediately  put  at  the  head 
of  the  movement,  and,  in  furtherance  of  it,  visited 
various  parts  of  the  country,  organizing  societies,  and 
preparing  the  way  for  a  general  union. 

My  younger  readers  can  form  but  a  faint  conception 
of  the  glow  and  fervor  of  that  early  day,  when  the 
Baptist  heart  fir.-t  awoke  to  a  personal  participation  in 
the  conversion  of  the  world  to  Christ.  True,  we  now 
raise  more  money  for  the  object;  but  it  is  too  much 
as  a  matter  of  business,  too  much  as  we  settle  up  our 
secular  accounts,  and  make  all  square  with  the  world. 
Then,  it  was  the  spontaneous  outburst  of  a  freshly 
enkindled  life.  I  recall,  from  my  own  childhood, 
vivid  recollections  of  the  enthusiasm  which  the  topic 
of  missions  always  awakened  in  the  family  circle  ;  of 
the  "  Mission  Box "  in  the  parlor,  through  whose  lid 
many  an  offering  to  the  cause  was  dropped  by  Christian 


170  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

visitors ;  of  the  jubilee  in  the  house,  when  a  letter 
arrived  from  Mrs.  Judson,  or  the  Missionary  Magazine 
came,  with  the  joyful  tidings  of  some  new  triumph 
of  the  gospel  in  far-off  Burmah.  Nor  was  this  a 
mere  denominational  feeling,  embracing  only  our  own 
missions  ;  it  was  a  true  catholic  love  for  all,  in  every 
land  and  of  every  name,  who  were  laboring  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  world. 

In  May,  1814,  a  convention  of  delegates  from  the 
various  missionary  societies,  and  other  religious  bodies 
of  the  Baptist  denomination,  met  in  Philadelphia,  for 
the  purpose,  as  expressed  in  the  preamble  to  the  con- 
stitution adopted  by  the  body,  —  of  "  organizing  a  plan 
for  eliciting,  combining,  and  directing  the  energies  of 
the  whole  denomination,  in  one  sacred  effort  for  send- 
ing the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  the  heathen,  and 
to  nations  destitute  of  pure  gospel  light."  The  result 
of  their  deliberations  was  the  formation  of  an  associa- 
tion, under  the  name  of  the  General  Missionary  Con- 
vention, of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  for  Foreign  Missions ;  *  an  organ- 
ization which,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  has  placed  itself, 
within  forty  years,  among  the  most  important  mission- 
ary institutions  in  Christendom. 

*  The  constitution  was  subsequently  modified  so  as  to  embrace 
the  Home  field. 


MISSIONARY  SPIRIT  AMONG  AMERICAN  BAPTISTS.      171 

The  first  action  of  its  Board  of  Managers,  immedi- 
ately after  the  adjournment  ojf  the  convention,  was  to 
appoint  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson,  and  Mr.  Rice,  their 
missionaries  to  the  Burman  Empire. 

Such  was  the  intelligence  which  came,  like  the  light 
of  sunrise,  to  gladden  the  lonely  missionary  cottage  in 
the  suburbs  of  Rangoon.  "These  accounts  from  my 
dear  native  land,"  writes  Mr.  Judson,  H  were  so  interest- 
ing as  to  banish  from  ray  mind  all  thoughts  of  study. 
This  general  movement  among  the  Baptist  churches 
in  America  is  particularly  encouraging,  as  it  affords 
an  additional  indication  of  God's  merciful  designs  in 
favor  of  the  poor  heathen.  It  unites  with  all  the  Bible 
societies  in  Europe  and  America,  during  the  last 
twenty  years,  in  furnishing  abundant  reason  to  hope, 
that  the  dreadful  darkness  which  has  so  long  envel- 
oped the  earth,  is  about  to  flee  away  before  the  rising 
sun.  Do  not  the  successes  which  have  crowned  some 
missionary  exertions  seem  like  the  dawn  of  morning 
in  the  east?  Oh  !  that  this  region  of  Egyptian  dark- 
ness may  ere  long  participate  in  the  vivifying  beams 
of  light. 

>ne  but  one  who  has  had  the  experience,  can 
tell  what  feelings  comfort  the  heart  of  a  solitary  mis- 
sionary, when,  though  all  the  scenes  around  him  pre- 
sent no  friend,  he  remembers,  and  has  proof,  that  there 


172  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

are  spots  on  this  wide  earth,  where  Christian  brethren 
feel  that  his  cause  is  their 'own,  and  pray  to  the  same 
God  and  Saviour  for  his  welfare  and  success.  Thanks 
be  to  God,  not  only  for  ?  rivers  of  endless  joy  above,' 
but  for  '  rills  of  comfort  here  below.' " 

The  year  1816  was  marked  by  two  events,  of  great 
importance  in  the  progress  of  the  mission  ;  viz :  the 
arrival  of  a  printing  press  (a  gift  from  Serampore), 
and  the  appointment,  by  the  Board  of  Managers,  of  a 
Missionary  Printer.  That  mighty  engine,  which,  in 
the  days  of  the  Reformation,  was  the  chief  instrument 
in  "  shaking  the  powers  of  darkness,"  and  humbling 
"  the  fiery  rage  of  the  old  red  dragon,"  was  now  to  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  venerable  superstitions  of 
Buddhism.  It  was  a  bright  day  in  the  annals  of 
Burmah,  a  day  rich  with  the  promise  of  permanence  to 
the  gospel  institutions  which  should  be  planted  in  her 
soil ;  a  day  which  whispered  of  a  Bible  for  her  people. 
Mr.  Judson  deeply  felt  its  importance.  The  following 
letters  indicate  the  widening  plans  and  hopes,  the  fresh 
courage  and  activity,  inspired  by  this  event. 

From  Messrs.  Judson  and  Hough  to  the  Corresponding 
Secretary,  Rev.  Dr.  Staughton. 

Rangoon,  November  7, 1816. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir  :  It  is  with  peculiar  satisfaction  that 
we  are,  at  length,  able  to  address  a  letter  to  the  Board,  in  our 


MISSIONARY  SPIRIT  AMONG  AMERICAN  BAPTISTS.     173 

joint  capacity.  We  had  a  joyful  meeting  in  this  place  the 
15th  ult.  Mr.  Hough  has  settled  in  one  part  of  the  mission 
house ;  and  we  are  now  united,  both  as  a  church  of  Christ 
and  as  a  mission  society.  Our  regulations  on  the  latter  point 
we  here  submit  to  the  Board.  It  will  be  evident,  at  first 
right,  that  these  regulations  have  a  prospective  view,  and  are 
framed  somewhat  differently  from  what  they  would  have 
been,  had  we  not  expected  that  our  society  would  soon  be 
enlarged.  But  we  hope  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when 
they  will  receive  the  signature  of  brother  Rice  also.  Indeed, 
we  hope  for  more  than  this ;  we  hope  that  one  or  two  others 
"mil  be  found  to  accompany  Mr.  Rice. 

li  fa  true  that  one  of  us  remained  about  three  years  in  this 
plaec  without  uttering  any  Macedonian  cries.  But  we  ap- 
prehend that  the  time  is  now  come,  when  it  is  consistent  with 
the  strictest  prudence  to  lift  up  our  voice  and  say,  Come  over 
the  ocean  and  help  us.  By  a  residence  of  three  years  in 
this  country,  many  doubts,  which  at  first  occurred,  are  re- 
moved ;  and  many  points  concerning  the  practicability  of  a 
mission,  and  the  prospect  of  success,  are  ascertained.  We 
cannot  now  enter  much  into  detail ;  but  we  desire  to  say, 
that  we  consider  the  mission  established  in  this  land.  We 
unite  in  opinion,  that  a  wide  door  is  set  open  for  the  intro- 
duction of  the  religion  of  Jesus  into  this  great  empire.  We 
have  at  present  no  governmental  interdict  to  encounter,  and 
no  greater  obstacles  than  such  as  oppose  the  progress  of  mis- 
sionaries in  every  heathen  land.  It  appears  to  us  (and  may 
it  so  appear  to  our  fathers  and  brethren)  that  God,  in  remov- 
ing the  English  mission  from  this  place,  and  substituting  in 
their  stead  an  American  mission,  is  emphatically  calling  on 
the  American  churches  to  compassionate  the  poor  Burmans, 
and  to  send  their  silver,  and  their  gold,  and  their  young  men, 
to  this  eastern  part  of  the  world,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord 
against  the  mighty. 


174  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  we  announce  the  valuable 
present  of  a  press  and  Burman  types,  made  to  us  by  the  Ser- 
ampore  brethren.  We  are  now  closing  in  a  room  for  a  tem- 
porary printing-office,  and  hope  very  soon  to  issue  a  gospel 
tract,  which  has  been  in  readiness  some  time,  and  which  is  in- 
tended to  give  the  heathen  around  us  some  idea  of  the  way 
of  salvation  through  the  Lord  Jesus.  But  we  cannot  move 
one  step  in  the  way  of  printing,  without  money.  Though 
favored  with  the  press,  in  the  first  instance,  gratis,  we  have 
already  expended,  in  paper,  freight,  and  sundries,  about  four 
hundred  rupees.  We  therefore  beg  an  immediate  appropri- 
ation, not  only  to  liquidate  the  expenses  already  incurred, 
but  to  enable  us  to  proceed  in  this  all-important  part  of  our 
work.  The  accounts  of  the  mission  press  we  propose  to  keep 
distinct ;  and  they  shall  be  submitted,  together  with  the  ac- 
counts of  the  mission. 

We  know  not  how  long  the  press  will  be  permitted  to  re- 
main in  Bangoon ;  we  do  not,  however,  deprecate  its  removal 
to  Ava.  Such  a  measure  would  doubtless  tend  to  the  fur- 
therance of  the  cause,  and  to  the  introduction  of  religion  into 
the  very  heart  of  the  empire,  where  Satan's  seat  is.  But  in 
this  case,  more  men  and  more  money  would  be  imperatively 
demanded ;  and  we  trust  that  the  patronage  of  the  Board 
will  not  fail  us  in  these  necessary  points.  We  desire  humbly 
to  repeat  to  the  Board  what  the  first  missionaries  from  the 
Baptist  society  in  England  said  to  their  friends,  when  on  the 
point  of  embarkation  in  the  great  work  which  seems  destined 
to  illumine  Western  India  with  the  light  of  the  gospel. 
"  We  are,"  said  they,  "  like  men  going  down  into  a  well ;  you 
stand  at  the  top  and  hold  the  ropes.  Do  not  let  us  fall." 
Hold  us  up,  brethren  and  fathers ;  and  if  health  and  life  be 
spared  to  us,  we  hope,  through  the  grace  of  God,  to  see  East- 
ern India  also  beginning  to  participate  in  the  same  glorious 
light.    Many  years  may  intervene,  in  the  latter  as  well  as  in 


MISSIONARY  SPIRIT  AMONG  AMERICAN  BAPTISTS.     175 

the  former  case  ;  many  difficulties  and  disappointments  may 
try  your  taith  and  ours.  But  let  patience  have  her  perfect 
work ;  let  us  not  be  weary  of  well-doing ;  for  in  due  time 
we  shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not. 

Your  servants  in  the  Lord  Jesus, 

A.  Judson,  Jr. 
George  H.  Hough. 

Articles  of  Agreement. 

In  order  more  effectually,  under  the  blessing  of  our  Lord 
ami  Master,  to  accomplish  the  important  work  for  which  we 
have  come  into  this  heathen  land,  we,  the  undersigned,  form 
a  union  on  the  following  principles,  namely  :  — 

1.  We  give  ourselves  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  one 
another  by  the  will  of  God. 

2.  We  agree  to  be  kindly  affectioned  one  towards  another 
with  brotherly  love,  in  honor  preferring  one  another ;  feeling 
that  we  have  one  Master,  even  Christ,  and  that  all  we  are 
brethren. 

3.  We  agree  in  the  opinion  that  our  sole  object  on  earth 
is  to  introduce  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  into  the  empire 
of  Bunnah;  and  that  the  means  by  which  we  hope  to  effect 
this  are,  translating,  printing,  and  distributing  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  preaehing  the  gospel,  circulating  religious  traets, 
and  promoting  the  instruction  of  native  children. 

4.  We  therefore  agree  to  engage  in  no  secular  business  for 
the  purpose  of  individual  emolument ;  and  not  at  all,  unless, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  brethren,  the  great  object  of  the  mission 
tan  be  best  promoted  thereby. 

5.  We  agree  to  relinquish  all  private  right  to  remittances 
from  America,  avails  of  labor,  and  compensation  for  service ; 
in  a  word,  to  place  all  money  and  property,  from  whatever 
quarter  accruing,  in  the  mission  fund ;  provided,  that  nothing 


176  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

in  this  article  be  construed  to  affect  our  private  right  to  in- 
heritances, or  personal  favors,  not  made  in  compensation  of 
service. 

6.  We  agree  that  all  the  members  of  the  mission  family 
have  claims  on  the  mission  fund  for  equal  support,  in  similar 
circumstances ;  the  claims  of  widows  and  orphans  not  to  be  in 
the  least  affected  by  the  death  of  the  head  of  their  family. 
But  it  is  to  be  understood,  that  no  one  shall  have  a  right  to 
adopt  a  child  into  the  mission  family,  so  as  to  entitle  it  to  the 
claims  secured  in  this  article,  but  by  consent  of  the  brethren. 

7.  We  agree  to  educate  our  children  with  a  particular  ref- 
erence to  the  object  Of  the  mission ;  and  if  any  expense  be 
necessary  or  expedient  for  this  purpose,  it  shall  be  defrayed 
from  the  mission  fund. 

8.  All  appropriations  from  the  mission  fund  shall  be  made 
by  a  majority  of  the  missionary  brethren  united  in  this  com- 
pact ;  subject,  however,  to  the  inspection  of  our  patrons,  the 
Board.  — 

A.  Judson,  Jr. 
George  H.  Hough. 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin. 

Rangoon,  February  10,  1817. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  Have  just  heard  that  a  person 
whom  we  have  some  time  calculated  on  as  a  letter-carrier  to 
Bengal,  is  unexpectedly  going  off  in  the  course  of  an  hour. 
Have,  therefore,  time  only  to  accompany  the  inclosed  tracts 
with  a  line  or  two. 

We  have  just  begun  to  circulate  these  publications,  and 
are  praying  that  they  may  produce  some  inquiry  among  the 
natives.  And  here  comes  a  man,  this  moment,  to  talk  about 
religion.  What  shall  I  do  ?  I  will  give  him  a  tract,  to  keep 
him  occupied  a  few  moments  while  I  finish  this.  "  Here,  my 
friend,  sit  down,  and  read  something  that  will  carry  you  to 


MISSIONARY  SPIRIT  AMONG  AMERICAN  BAPTISTS.     177 

heaven,  if  you  believe  and  receive   the  glorious  Saviour 
therein  exhibited." 

We  are  just  entering  on  a  small  edition  of  Matthew,  the 
translation  of  which  I  lately  commenced.  But  we  are  in 
great  want  of  men  and  money.  Our  hands  are  full  from 
morning  till  night.  I  cannot,  for  my  life,  translate  as  fast  as 
brother  Hough  will  print.  lie  has  to  do  all  the  hard  work 
in  the  printing-office,  without  a  single  assistant,  and  cannot, 
therefore,  apply  himself  to  the  study  of  the  language,  as  is 
desirable.  As  for  me,  I  have  not  an  hour  to  converse  with 
the  natives,  or  go  out  and  make  proclamation  of  the  glorious 
gospel.  Tn  regard  to  money,  we  have  drawn  more  from  Ben- 
gal than  lias  been  remitted  from  America;  so  that  now,  if 
not  for  their  truly  brotherly  kindness  in  honoring  our  bills 
on  credit,  we  should  actually  starve.  Moreover,  an  edition 
of  nvc  thousand  of  the  New  Testament  will  eos.t  us  nearly 
five  thousand  dollars.  And  what  are  five  thousand  among  a 
population  of  seventeen  millions,  five  millions  of  whom  can 
read  ?  O  that  all  the  members  of  the  Baptist  convention 
could  live  in  Rangoon  one  month !  Will  the  Christian  world 
ever  awake  ?  Will  means  ever  be  used  adequate  to  the  ne- 
cessities of  the  heathen  world  ?  O  Lord,  send  help.  Our 
waiting  eyes  are  unto  thee  ! 

Your  brother  in  the  Lord, 

A.  Judson,  Jr. 

Under  date  of  August,  1817,  Mrs.  Judson  mentions, 
in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  that  the  edition  of  Matthew- 
spoken  of  in  the  preceding  letters  was  now  printed, 
and  together  with  the  tract  and  catechism,  was  in 
circulation.  She  adds  :  u  They  are  well  understood  by 
those  who  read  them.  Many  have  called  at  the  mis- 
J2 


178  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

sion  house  to  inquire  more  particularly  about  the  new 
religion ." 

The  foundation  being  thus  laid,  it  was  now  deemed 
proper  to  commence  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel  in 
a  more  public  manner.  But  there  were  as -yet  no  con- 
verts to  form  a  connecting  link  between  the  foreign 
teachers  and  the  people,  and  to  aid  them  in  their  first 
attempts  to  convey  divine  truth  to  the  native  mind. 
In  Chittagong,  however,  a  dependency  of  Bengal,  but 
inhabited  chiefly  by  Arracanese  speaking  the  Burman 
language,  it  was  supposed  a  few  persons  were  still  to 
be  found,  who  had  been  converted  and  baptized  by  an 
English  missionary  some  years  before.  Mr.  Judson, 
accordingly,  determined  to  proceed  thither  in  quest  of 
these  native  Christians,  some  of  whom  he  hoped  would 
be  induced  to  return  with  him. 

On  the  25th  of  December,  1817,  he  embarked  at 
Rangoon  in  a  vessel  bound  for  Chittagong,  which  was 
to  return  with  very  little  delay,  the  whole  voyage  not 
being  expected  to  occupy  more  than  three  months. 
But  he  was  destined  to  a  sad  disappointment.  After 
working  for  a  whole  month  along  the  coast,  without 
getting  near  the  destined  port,  the  captain  and  super- 
cargo concluded  to  change  the  ship's  course  and  sail  for 
Madras.  "  It  was  with  the  most  bitter  feelings,"  writes 
Mr.  Judson,  "that  I  witnessed  the  entire  failure  of 'my 


VICISSITUDES    OF    THE    MISSION.'  179 

undertaking,  and  saw  the  summits  of  the  mountains  of 
Arracan,  the  last  indexes  of  ray  country,  sinking  in  the 
horizon,  and  the  ship  stretching  away  to  a  distant  part 
of  India,  which  I  had  no  wish  to  visit,  and  where  I  had 
no  object  to  obtain."  They  had  a  quick  passage  across 
the  Bay  of  Bengal ;  but  the  contrary  winds  and  cur- 
rents, encountered  on  the  Coromandel  coast,  detained 
them  two  months  longer  at  sea,  during  which  time  they 
were  reduced  to  the  greatest  extremity  for  want  of 
provisions  and  water.  A  little  mouldy,  broken  rice, 
picked  up  from  native  vessels,  was  their  only  nourish- 
ment. Exposure  and  privation  brought  on  a  return 
of  the  nervous  disorder  in  the  head  and  eyes,  by  which 
Mr.  Judson  had  been  so  nearly  prostrated  two  years 
before ;  and  this  was  followed  by  a  slow  fever,  which 
had  nearly  put  a  final  termination  to  his  sufferings. 
When,  at  length,  they  made  the  port  of  Mausulipatam, 
his  only  wish  was  for  a  place  on  shore  where  he  might 
lie  down  and  die.  In  this  miserable  condition  he  was 
found  by  some  kind-hearted  English  officers,  residing 
at  the  place,  one  of  whom  took  him  to  his  own  house, 
supplied  his  wardrobe,  procured  a  nurse  to  attend  him, 
and  in  every  way  fulfilled,  worthily,  the  part  of  the 
good  Samaritan  to  the  friendless  stranger.  In  a  few 
days  his  health  was  sufficiently  restored  to  allow  him 
to  travel;  and  after  ascertaining  that  the  ship  would 


180  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

not  leave  her  present  port  under  several  months,  and 
that  there  was  no  hope  of  a  conveyance  to  Madras  by 
sea  that  season,  he  hired  a  palanquin  and  bearers,  and 
performed  the  journey  of  three  hundred  miles  by  land. 
Arrived  at  Madras,  he  found  no  vessel  bound  for  Ran- 
goon, nor  any  prospect  of  one  for  an  indefinite  time  to 
come.  Here  he  was  detained  from  the  8th  of  April  to 
the  20th  of  July,  in  a  state  of  extreme  anxiety,  hearing 
nothing  from  home,  and  unable  to  convey  thither  any 
intelligence  respecting  himself.  On  the  day  last  men- 
tioned, he  embarked  in  an  English  vessel  for  Rangoon, 
and,  on  the  2d  of  August,  arrived  at  the  mouth  of 
Rangoon  River,  after  an  absence  of  more  than  seven 
months. 

While  he  had  thus  been  detained  on  a  distant  shore, 
the  infant  mission  was  passing  through  fearful  trials ; 
and  about  a  fortnight  before  he  left  Madras,  it  had 
seemed  on  the  very  brink  of  destruction.  A  growing 
manifestation  of  ill-will  in  the  under  officers  of  govern- 
ment, the  fearful  ravages  of  cholera  in  the  city,  the 
protracted  absence  of  Mr.  Judson,  which  left  scarcely 
a  doubt  of  his  having  perished  at  sea,  and  finally,  the 
prospect  of  war  with  England,  had  led  Mr.  Hough  to 
determine  on  leaving  Burmah.  Mrs.  Judson  could  not 
admit  the  thought  of  such  a  step,  before  hearing  from 
her  husband.      But  in  the  early  part  of  July,  Mr. 


VICISSITUDES    OF    THE    MISSION.  181 

Hough  having  concluded  to  take  passage  in  the  last 
remaining  English  ship,  now  about  to  take  its  departure 
for  Bengal,  she  was  prevailed  on  to  make  preparations 
for  the  voyage.  The  prospect  of  being  left  alone  in 
this  heathen  land,  and  in  the  event  of  a  war,  of  being 
cut  off  from  all  possibility  of  reunion  with  her  husband, 
were  he  yet  alive,  seemed  to  leave  her  no  alternative. 
Yet  it  was  with  a  heavy,  misgiving  heart,  that  she 
yielded  to  the  necessity.  After  all,  he  might  return ; 
and  what  would  be  his  feelings  on  finding  his  home 
desolate,  and  the  light  of  the  mission  utterly  extin- 
guished !  "  Sometimes,"  thus  she  writes  at  this  dark 
moment,  "I  feel  inclined  to  remain  here  alone,  and 
hazard  the  consequences  ;  I  should  certainly  conclude 
on  this  step,  if  any  probability  existed  of  Mr.  Judson's 
return.  The  mission  has  never  appeared  in  so  low  a 
state  as  at  the  present  time.  It  seems  now  entirely 
destroyed,  as  we  all  expect  to  embark  for  Bengal  in  a 
day  or  two.  Alas!  alas!  how  changed  our  prospects 
since  Mr.  Jodson  left  us.M 

On  the  ~>th  of  July,  they  all  went  on  board.  The  vessel 
was  several  days  getting  down  the  river,  and  at  the 
moment  of  putting  out  to  lea,  was  discovered  to  be  in 
so  dangerous  a  condition,  from  being  improperly  loaded, 
as  to  make  a  still  further  detention  necessary.  Mrs. 
Judson,  whose  reluctance  to  the  measure  had  increased 


182  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

with  every  hour,  could  now  no  longer  resist  the  prompt- 
ings of  her  heart.  She  resolved  at  once  to  relinquish 
the  voyage,  and  return  to  Rangoon.  The  captain,  at 
her  request,  sent  up  a  boat  with  her  immediately, 
promising  to  forward  her  baggage  the  next  day.  Once 
more  in  the  lonely  mission  house,  with  only  Burmans 
around  her,  and  no  companion  but  a  little  Portuguese 
orphan  girl  whom  she  had  adopted,  she  now  regained 
her  tranquillity  of  mind.  It  was  the  calmness  of  a  great 
soul,  which  could  only  be  at  peace  with  itself  when 
acting  in  obedience  to  the  highest  principles  of  its 
nature.  It  was  reasonable,  it  was  prudent  to  care  for 
her  own  safety  by  leaving  Burmah.  But  to  her  heroic 
and  disinterested  spirit, —  heroic  because  disinterested, 
—  it  seemed  like  a  weak  and  selfish  desertion  of  the 
post  of  duty.  Here,  then,  she  resolved  to  abide,  till 
the  dark  cloud  should  pass  away,  or  it  should  be- 
come certain  that  the  light  of  her  own  life  and  of  the 
mission  had  sunk  to  rise  no  more. 

On  the  1 6th  of  July,  she  learned  by  the  arrival  from 
Mausulipatam  of  the  vessel  in  which  Mr.  Judson  had 
sailed  from  Rangoon,  that,  in  the  latter  part  of  March, 
he  was  still  living.  On  the  2d  of  August,  she  records 
the  joyful  tidings,  which  had  that  moment  readied  her, 
that  he  had  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

About  six  weeks  after  Mr.  Judson's  return,  the  mis- 


VICISSITUDES    OF   THE    MISSION.  183 

sion  was  reinforced  by  the  arrival  of  Messrs.  Colman 
and  Wheelock,*  with  their  wives,  from  America.  This 
accession  to  their  number  was  welcomed,  with  the  most 
lively  joy,  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson ;  the  more  so,  as 
occurring  at  a  time  when  their  outward  circumstances 
far  from  promising,  and  when  the  mission  had 
been  enfeebled  by  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Hough,  who 
had  taken  most  of  the  printing  apparatus  with  him  to 
Calcutta. 

Mr.  Judson  thus  speaks  of  their  situation  in  a  letter 
of  October  9,  1818,  to  the  corresponding  secretary. 

"  The  examination  which  brother  Hough  sustained  during 
my  absence,  and  the  persecution  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
padres,  have  made  us  feel  more  deeply  than  ever  the  pre- 
carious situation  of  this  mission,  and  the  necessity  of  proceed- 
ing with  the  utmost  caution.  It  was  only  through  the  favor 
of  the  viceroy  that  the  padres  were  allowed  to  remain  here, 
when  they  arrived  from  Ava,  under  sentence  of  banishment. 

*  The  writer  may  be  permitted  to  record  her  own  recollection  of 
these  interesting  youths,  too  early  snatched  from  the  scene  of  their 
labors.  They  received  their  theological  education  in  a  private 
theological  school  under  the  care  of  the  writer's  father,  the  Rev. 
Jeremiah  Chaplin,  then  of  Danvers,  Mass.  This,  it  is  believed,  was 
the  first  Baptist  theological  school  in  this  country,  and  without 
doubt  gave  an  important  impulso  to  the  cause  of  ministerial  educa- 
tion in  our  denomination.  —  Colman  and  Wheelock,  I  remember 
as  inmates  of  our  family,  endeared  to  all  who  knew  them  by  their 
piety  and  amiable  dispositions.  From  their  strong  attachment  to 
each  other,  seldom  being  seen  apart,  they  were  familiarly  known  as 
"  David  and  Jonathan." 


184  TIIE    EARNEST   MAN. 

And  it  is  only  through  his  mediation,  and  the  influence  of 
large  presents  jnade  to  the  king,  that  the  order  of  banishment 
is  reversed,  if  indeed  it  be  reversed  —  a  report  not  yet  con- 
firmed. One  malicious  intimation  to  the  king  would  occasion 
our  banishment ;  and  banishment,  as  the  Burmans  tell  us,  is 
no  small  thing,  being  attended  with  confiscation  of  all  prop- 
erty, and  such  various  abuses  as  would  make  us  deem  our- 
selves happy  to  escape  with  our  lives. 

"  Such  a  situation  may  appear  somewhat  alarming  to  a  per- 
son accustomed  to  the  liberty  and  safety  of  a  free  government. 
But  let  us  remember  that  it  has  been  the  lot  of  the  greater 
part  of  mankind  to  live  under  a  despotic  government,  devoid 
of  all  security  for  life  or  property  a  single  moment.  Let  us 
remember  that  the  Son  of  God  chose  to  become  incarnate 
under  the  most  unprincipled  and  cruel  despot  that  ever 
reigned.  And  shall  any  disciple  of  Christ  refuse  to  do  a 
little  service  for  his  Saviour,  under  a  government  where  his 
Saviour  would  not  have  refused  to  live  and  die  for  his  soul  ? 
God  forbid.  Yet  faith  is  sometimes  weak  —  flesh  and  blood 
sometimes  repine.  O  for  grace  to  strengthen  faith,  to  animate 
hope,  to  elevate  affection,  to  embolden  the  soul,  to  enable  us 
to  look  danger  and  death  in  the  face  ;  still  more,  to  behold, 
without  repining,  those  most  dear  to  us  suffering  fears  and 
pains,  which  we  would  gladly  have  redoubled  on  ourselves, 
if  it  would  exonerate  them. 

"  We  feel  encouraged  by  the  thought  that  many  of  the  dear 
children  of  God  remember  us  at  the  mercy-seat.  To  your 
prayers  I  desire  once  more  to  commend  myself —  the  weakest, 
the  most  unqualified,  the  most  unworthy,  and  the  most  un- 
successful of  all  missionaries." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


THE    ZAYAT. 


In  every  Burman  village  through  which  he  passes, 
the  traveller  notices  a  building,  distinguished  from  the 
ordinary  dwellings  of  the  inhabitants,  by  its  superior 
size  and  style  of  building.  At  any  time  past  the 
middle  of  the  forenoon,  he  observes  in  its  broad  veran- 
dahs, under  the  shadow  of  the  projecting  roof,  groups 
of  men  lounging  upon  mats,  engaged  in  social  chat,  or 
listlessly  reposing  as  they  chew  their  favourite  betel- 
leaf  and  lime.  This  is  the  Zayat,  or  place  of  public 
resort,  either  for  pleasure,  or  for  the  transaction  of 
business.*  The  Burman  rises  with  the  first  dawn,  and 
labors  at  his  daily  occupation  till  about  ten  o'clock. 
Unlike  the  Hindoo,  whose  entire  morning  is  given  to 
the  sacred  ablutions,  anointings,  and  prayers  of  his  re- 
ligion,f  this  Anglo-Saxon  oriental,  if  we  may  so  call  him, 

*  It  is  alsoa  sort  of  inn,  where  travellers  may  lodge  without  charge, 
providing,  however,  their  own  food  and  bedding.  There  is  an  in- 
closed room  for  this  purpose. 

t  I  am  informed,  by  a  friend  who  has  lately  visited  India,  Rev.  Dr. 


186  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

contents  himself,  on  ordinary  days,  with  such  brief 
devotions  as  are  consistent  with  the  hurry  of  business, 
—  a  hasty  prayer  before  the  household  Gaudama,  or  a 
moment's  pause,  with  bowed  head  and  folded  hands  at 
the  pagoda,  as  he  passes  by  it  to  his  labor.  .  By  ten  or 
eleven  o'clock,  work  is  over  for  the  day  ;  and  the  men 
come  flocking  to  the  zayat,  where  they  remain  till  the 
cool  of  evening,  when  they  disperse  to  their  respective 
homes.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  zayat  is  not  properly 
a  place  for  religious  worship ;  though  the  Buddhist 
preacher  often  appoints  a  religious  meeting  in  these 
convenient  places  of  resort,  where  he  can  be  sure  of  an 
audience  to  admire  his  eloquent  recitation  of  the  acts 
and  sufferings  of  Gaudama.*  In  large  towns,  there 
are  many  zayats,  so  distributed  as  to  accommodate  the 
entire  population.  Some  of  them  are  elegant  speci- 
mens of  Burman  architecture,  —  the  graduated  roofs 
and  lofty  interior  being  profusely  carved  and  gilded, 

Granger,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  that  he  seldom  found  the  bazaars  in 
Calcutta  open  before  noon  ;  while  the  banks  of  the  sacred  Ganges 
were  all  the  morning  thronged  by  devotees,  diligently  performing 
their  religious  rites. 

*  These  preachers  are  not  generally  priests,  who  seldom  deign  to 
leave  their  luxurious  retirement  for  such  a  purpose,  but  laymen, 
whose  call  to  preach  consists  in  a  talent  for  popular  oratory,  which 
finds,  in  these  exercises,  a  favorable  chance  for  display.  Some  of 
them,  as  I  am  told  by  the  friend  just  referred  to,  exhibit  no  little  his- 
trionic power  ;  and  a  whole  assembly  has  been  seen  bathed  in  tears, 
under  the  recital  of  some  affecting  passage  in  the  life  of  Gaudama. 


THE    ZAYAT.  187 

and  the  flooring  formed  of  the  finest  stucco.  A  num- 
ber of  zayats  is  commonly  found  around  each  pagoda, 
for  the  accommodation  of  worshippers,  —  the  temple 
itself  being  a  solid  structure,  affording  no  shelter  from 
the  sun  and  weather.  In  these,  some  of  *he  more 
pious  occasionally  remain  through  an  entire  day  or 
night,  repeating  many  times  the  routine  of  religious 
ceremonies.  Mr.  Maloon  says  he  has  often  seen  them 
here,  reclining  on  mats,  and  reading  from  their  palm- 
leaf  books  ;  or  returning  in  the  morning,  after  a  night's 
sojourn,  their  light  bedding  suspended  from  a  pole 
across  the  shoulder. 

An  evening  at  one  of  these  zayats,  described  by  Mr. 
Jud>on,  furni.-hes  an  interesting  and  pleasing  picture 
of  a  Burman  religious  assembly,  listening  to  one  of  the 
amateur  lay-prrachers  mentioned  above. 

"April  6.  This  evening  I  went,  for  the  second  time,  to  hear 
a  popular  Barman  preacher.  On  our  arrival,  we  found  a 
zayat,  in  the  precincts  of  one  of  the  most  celebrated  pagodas, 
lighted  up,  and  the  floor  Bpread  with  mats.  In  the  centre 
was  a  frame,  raised  about  eighteen  inches  from  the  ground, 
where  the  preacher,  on  his  arrival,  seated  himself.  He  ap- 
peared to  be  about  forty-five  years  old,  of  very  pleasant 
countenance  and  harmonious  speech.  He  was  once  a  priest, 
but  is  now  a  layman.  The  people,  as  they  came  in,  seated 
Ives  on  the  mats,  the  men  on  one  side  of  the  house, 
and  the  women  on  the  other.  It  was  an  undistinguished  day, 
and  the  congregation  was  very  small,  not  more  than  one  bun- 


188 


THE    EARNEST    MAN. 


dred.  When  we  entered,  some  said :  '  There  come  some 
wild  foreigners.'  But  when  we  sat  down  properly,  and  took 
off  our  shoes,  they  began  to  say :  '  No,  they  are  not  wild ; 
they  are  civilized.'  Some  recognized  me,  and  said  to  one 
another:  ;It  is  the  English  teacher'  —  a  name  by  which  I 
am  commonly  known.  The  preacher  soon  took  notice  of  us, 
entered  into  some  conversation,  invited  us  to  visit  him,  and 
so  on ;  but,  on  learning  that  I  was  a  missionary,  or,  in  their 
idiom,  a  religion-making  teacher,  his  countenance  fell,  and  he 
said  no  more.  The  people  being  now  convened,  one  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose,  called  three  times  for  silence  and 
attention.  Each  one  then  took  the  flowers  and  leaves  which 
had  been  previously  distributed,  and,  placing  them  between 
his  fingers,  raised  them  to  his  head,  and  in  that  respectful 
posture  remained  motionless  until  the  service  was  closed. 
This  ceremony  we  of  course  declined.  When  all  things 
were  properly  adjusted,  the  preacher  closed  his  eyes,  and 
commenced  the  exercise,  which  consisted  in  repeating  a  por- 
tion from  their  sacred  writings.  His  subject  was  the  conver- 
sion of  the  two  prime  disciples  of  Gaudama,  and  their  subse- 
quent promotion  and  glory.  His  oratory  I  found  to  be  en- 
tirely different  from  all  that  we  call  oratory.  At  first,  he 
seems  dull  and  monotonous ;  but  presently  his  soft,  melliflu- 
ent tones,  win  their  way  into  the  heart,  and  lull  the  soul  into 
that  state  of  calmness  and  serenity  which  to  a  Burman  mind 
somewhat  resembles  the  boasted  perfection  of  their  saints  of 
old.  His  discourse  continued  about  half  an  hour ;  and,  at 
the  close,  the  whole  assembly  burst  out  into  a  short  prayer, 
after  which  all  rose  and  retired.  This  man  exhibits  twice 
every  evening,  in  different  places.  Indeed,  he  is  the  only 
popular  lay  preacher  in  the  place.  As  for  the  priests,  they 
preach  on  special  occasions  only,  when  they  are  drawn  from 
their  seclusion  and  inactivity  by  the  solicitations  of  their  ad- 
herents." 


THE    ZATAT.  189 

Of  this  characteristic  feature  of  Burman  life,  Mr. 
Judson  availed  himself,  for  the  open  proclamation  of 
the  gospel,  which  he  now  felt  called  to  attempt.  He 
resolved  to  build,  on  some  frequented  road,  a  zayat, 
where  the  wayfarer,  pausing  for  rest,  or  for  a  moment's 
curious  chat  with  the  white  foreigner,"  might  be  in- 
duced to  listen  to  the  words  of  life  ;  and  where,  on  the 
Sabbath,  the  sacred  songs  and  prayers  of  Christian 
worship  should  come  in  direct  contrast  with  the  me- 
chanical, soulless  forms  of  Buddhism.*  By  thus  adapt- 
ing himself,  externally,  to  the  ideas  and  customs  of  the 
people,  he  might  hope  both  to  win  their  attention  more 
readily,  and  to  escape  the  special  notice  of  the  govern- 
ment ;  at  least  till  the  good  seed  should  have  time  to 
strike  root  a  little  in  the  soil. 

It  was  not  one  of  those  elegant  buildings  described 
above,  which  he  proposed  to  erect.  There  was  nothing 
in  the  thatched  roof,  plain  rafters,  and  floor  of  split 
bamboo,  of  this  missionary  zayat,  to  impress  the  be- 
holder with  the  wealth  and  dignity  of  its  occupants. 
Mr.  Judson  writes  respecting  it :  — 

"  The  building  is  now  going  up,  with  such  9canty  materials 
and  means  as  we  can  afford,  or  rather,  as  we  think  you  can 


*  Boodhism  has  its  sacred  days,  four  in  each  month,  or  ono  at 
each  change  of  the  moon  ;  thus  answering,  in  time,  very  nearly  to 
the  Christian  Sabbath. 


190  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

afford.  The  whole  concern  will  cost  about  two  hundred  dol- 
lars. And  should  this  zayat  prove  to  be  a  Christian  meeting- 
house, the  first  erected  in  this  land  of  atheists,  for  the  wor- 
ship of  God  —  a  house  where  Burmans  who  now  deny  the 
very  existence  of  Deity,  shall  assemble  to  adore  the  majesty 
of  heaven,  and  to  sing  with  hearts  of  devotion  the  praises  of 

the  incarnate   Saviour But,  the   thought   seems  too 

great  to  be  realized.  Can  this  darkness  be  removed?  Can 
these  dry  bones  live  ?  On  thee,  Jesus,  all  our  hopes  depend. 
In  thee  all  power  is  vested,  even  power  to  make  sinful  crea- 
tures instrumental  of  enlightening  the  heathen. 

"  You  want  to  hear  of  some  poor  benighted  Burman 
brought  to  taste  that  the  Lord  is  gracious ;  but  O,  not  more 
than  I  want  to  speak  of  it.  I  hope,  I  do  hope,  my  dear  Sir, 
that  we  shall  both  one  day  be  gratified." 

A  few  months  later,  Mrs.  Judson  thus  describes  the 
daily  scene  at  the  zayat :  — 

"  The  zayat  is  situated  thirty  or  forty  rods  from  the  mis- 
sion house,  and  in  dimensions  is  twenty-seven  by  eighteen 
feet.  It  is  raised  four  feet  from  the  ground,  and  is  divided 
into  three  parts.  The  first  division  is  laid  entirely  open  to 
the  road,  without  doors,  windows,  or  a  partition  in  the  front 
side,  and  takes  up  a  third  part  of  the  whole  building.  It  is 
made  of  bamboo  and  thatch,  and  is  the  place  where  Mr.  Jud- 
son sits  all  the  day  long,  and  says  to  the  passers  by  '  Ho  ! 
every  one  that  thirsteth,'  &c.  The  next,  and  middle  division, 
is  a  large  airy  room,  with  four  doors  and  four  windows,  open- 
ing in  opposite  directions;  made  entirely  of  boards,  and  is 
whitewashed,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  other  zayats  around 

Us. 

"  In  this  room  we  have  public  worship  in  Burman  on  the 


THE    ZAYAT.  191 


my  writing-table,  while  six  of  the  male  scholars  are  at  one 
end,  each  with  his  torch  and  blackboard,  over  which  he  is 
industriously  bending,  and  emitting  the  curious  sounds  of 
Bgoage.  The  third,  and  last  division,  is  only  an  entry 
way,  which  opens  into  the  garden,  leading  to  the  mission 
house. 

k-  In  this  apartment  all  the  women  are  seated,  with  their 
and  blackboards,  much  in  the  same  position  and  em- 
ployment as  the  men.  The  blackboard,  on  which  all  the 
Burmans  learn  to  read  and  write,  answers  the  same  purpose 
as  our  slates.  They  are  about  a  yard  in  length,  made  black 
with  charcoal  and  the  juice  of  a  leaf;  and  letters  are  clearly 
imprinted  with  a  species  of  white  stone,  a  little  similar  to  our 
slate  pencils." 


On  the  4th  of  April,  1819,  he  records  "a  new  and 
important  era  in  the  mission,  —  the  opening  of  the 
zayat.  So  it  proved.  From  that  point  of  time,  the 
power  of  the  living  preacher,  God's  chosen  instrumen- 
tality for  saving  souls,  was  felt  in  Burinah.  Five 
years  had  been  spent  in  patient,  preparatory  labor ;  and 
much  religious  instruction  had  been  communicated  in 
private.  But  during  all  this  time,  not  a  single  instance 
of  conversion  had  taken  place.  Within  one  month  after 
the  opening  of  the  zayat,  the  first  fruits  of  Christ's 
church  in  Burmah  were  gathered  in,  by  the  conversion 
of  Moung  Nau ;  and  from  that  day,  the  leaven  of 
Christianity  worked  its  way,  with  little,  indeed,  of  out- 


192  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

ward  show,  but  with  ever-increasing  power,  into  the 

interior  life  of  the  nation. 

A  few  pages  from   Mr.  Judson's  journal,  extending 

from  the   opening  of  the  zayat  to  the  baptism  of  the 

first  convert,  gives  us  a  vivid  picture  of  the  man,  and 

of  his  labors  in  this  new  sphere  of  activity. 

• 

"  To-day,  the  building  of  the  zayat  being  sufficiently  ad- 
vanced for  the  purpose,  I  called  together  a  few  people  that 
live  around  us,  and  commenced  public  worship  in  the  Bur- 
man  language.  I  say  commenced,  for,  though  I  have  fre- 
quently read  and  discoursed  to  the  natives,  I  have  never 
before  conducted  a  course  of  exercises  which  deserved  the 
name  of  public  worship,  according  to  the  usual  acceptation 
of  that  phrase  among  Christians ;  and  though  I  began  to 
preach  the  gospel  as  soon  as  I  could  speak  intelligibly,  I  have 
thought  it  hardly  becoming  to  apply  the  term  preaching, 
since  it  has  acquired  an  appropriate  meaning  in  modern  use, 
to  my  imperfect,  desultory  exhortations  and  conversations. 
But  I  hope,  though  with  fear  and  trembling,  that  I  have  now 
commenced  a  course  of  public  worship  and  regular  preaching. 
This  would  have  taken  place  just  a  year  ago,  had  I  returned 
to  Rangoon,  as  I  expected ;  and  still  earlier,  had  I  not  been 
under  a  government  where  I  thought  it  prudent  to  gain  a 
considerable  acquaintance  with  the  language  before  com- 
mencing public  operations,  lest  I  should  be  unable  prop- 
erly to  vindicate  my  conduct  when  called  to  a  judicial  ac- 
count. 

"  The  congregation,  to-day,  consisted  of  fifteen  persons 
only,  besides  children.  Much  disorder  and  inattention  pre- 
vailed, most  of  them  not  having  been  accustomed  to  attend 
Burman  worship.     May  the  Lord  grant  his  blessing  on  at- 


THE    ZATAT.  193 

tempts  made  in  great  weakness,  and  under  great  disadvan- 
tages ;  and  all  the  glory  will  be  his 

■  April  28.  Nothing  interesting  through  the  day.  At 
night,  encountered  a  bitter  opposer ;  he  had  visited  Bengal, 
and  some  foe  to  missions  had  poisoned  his  mind ;  he  mani- 
fested a  most  virulent  spirit.  I  felt  that  he  would  most  glad- 
ly be  foremost  in  destroying  us.  But,  through  divine  grace, 
I  was  enabled  to  treat  him  with  meekness  and  gentleness, 
and  he  finally  left  me  politely.  He  appeared  to  be  rich,  and 
had  several  followers.  In  the  evening,  there  were  some 
hopeful  appearances  in  Mrs.  Judson's  female  meeting — a 
Bleating  which  she  has  recommenced  since  public  worship 
has  been  set  up  in  the  zayat. 

"  April  29.  A  precious  case  has  just  occurred.  A  young 
man  of  twenty-four,  by  name  Moung  Koo,  happened  to  stroll 
in  last  Sunday,  and  was  present  at  worship.  He  appeared 
to  be  rather  wild  and  noisy,  though  his  manners  were  respect- 
ful. He  took  a  tract  and  went  away.  This  morning  he 
made  his  appearance  again,  and  has  been  with  me  about  two 
hours.  I  have  been  enabled,  through  divine  assistance,  to 
give  him  a  great  deal  of  truth,  and  especially  to  expatiate 
with  some  feeling  on  the  love  and  sufferings  of  the  Saviour- 
The  truth  seems  to  have  taken  hold  of  his  mind.  And 
though  he  is  quick  and  sensible,  and  has  some  savage  fire  in 
his  eye,  he  is  very  docile,  and  ready  to  drink  in  the  truth, 
without  the  numberless  cavils  and  objections  which  are  so 
common  among  the  Bonnans.  He  engaged  to  come  next 
Sunday,  promised  to  pray  constantly,  and  gave  me  his  name 
that  1  might  pray  for  him,  that  he  might  be  a  disciple  of 
Christ,  and  be  delivered  from  hell.  I  feel  considerable  at- 
tachment to  this  young  man,  and  my  heart  goes  forth  to  the 

ny  seat  in  behalf  of  his  precious  soul. 

il  il  30.  I  was  agreeably  surprised  in  the  morning  to  see 
the  young  man  of  yesterday  come  again  so  soon.     He  stayed 
13 


i'J-4  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

all  the  forenoon,  and  seemed  desirous  of  hearing  as  much  as 
possible  about  religion.  Several  others  came  and  went.  A 
very  busy  day  ;  hardly  time  to  prepare  these  minutes  to  be 
forwarded  by  a  vessel  which  leaves  this  port  for  Bengal  early 
to-morrow  morning. 

"May  1,  1819.  Burman  day  of  worship;  of  course  many 
visitors ;  among  the  rest,  Moung  Nau,  a  man  who  was  with 
me  several  hours  yesterday;  but,  from  his  silence  and  re- 
serve, excited  little  attention  or  hope.  To-day,  however,  I 
begin  to  think  better  of  him.  Moung  Koo  came  again  at 
night,  and  appeared  pretty  well.  These  two  men,  with  the 
two  persons  from  Kambet,  of  the  27th,  I  call  the  fruits  of  the 
week.  But  let  us  see  who  of  them  will  remember  the  day  of 
worship. 

"  May  2,  Lord's  day.  About  three  o'clock,  the  quiet  and 
modest  Moung  Nau  came  in  and  took  his  usual  place.  For 
the  others  we  looked  in  vain.  About  thirty  present  at  wor- 
ship. Very  few  paid  much  attention,  or  probably  received 
any  benefit. 

"  May  3.  Among  the  visitors  of  to-day  was  a  respectable 
man,  formerly  an  officer,  now  a  merchant,  resident  at  Little 
Bridge,  a  village  contiguous  to  Kambet.  After  long  and 
various  conversation,  in  which  he  paid  close  and  respectful 
attention,  he  said  that  he  was  a  person  not  a  little  versed  in 
Burman  literature,  but  that  he  now  saw  he  had  erred  in  all ; 
he  regretted  that  he  had  lived  two  years  in  the  neighborhood 
without  knowing  me;  to-day  was  an  auspicious  day;  he 
wished  to  become  my  disciple,  would  read  my  writings  with 
attention,  and  come  as  often  as  possible. 

"  May  5.  Moung  Nau  has  been  with  me  several  hours.  I 
begin  to  think  that  the  grace  of  God  has  reached  his  heart. 
He  expresses  sentiments  of  repentance  for  his  sins,  and  faith 
in  the  Saviour.  The  substance  of  his  profession  is,  that  from 
the  darknesses,  and  uncleannesses,  and  sins  of  his  whole  life, 


THE    ZAYAT.  195 

he  has  found  no  other  Saviour  but  Jesus  Christ;  nowhere 
else  can  he  look  for  salvation  ;  and  therefore  he  proposes  to 
adhere  to  Christ,  and  .worship  him  all  his  lite  long. 

-eems  almost  too  much  to  believe  that  God  has  begun 
to  manifest  his  grace  to  the  Burraans ;  but  this  day  I  could 
not  resist  the  delightful  conviction  that  this  is  really  the  case. 

PltAISE     AND    GLORY    BE    TO    HIS    NAME    EOREVEKMOKE. 

Amen. 

v  G.  Moung  Nau  was  again  with  me  a  great  part  of 
the   day.     He   appears  to  be   slowly  growing  in   religious 
knowledge,  and  manifests  a  teachable,  humble  spirit,  ready 
to  believe  all  that  Christ  has  said,  and  obey  all  that  he  has 
commanded.     He  is  thirty-five  years  old  ;   no  family,  mid- 
dling abilities,  quite  poor,  obliged  to  work  for  his  living ;  and 
therefore  his  coming,  day  after  day,  to  hear  the  truth,  affords 
stronger  evidence  that  it  has  taken  hold  of  his  mind.     May 
•  rd  graciously  lead  his  dark  mind  into  all  the  truth, 
mse  him  to  cleave  inviolably  to  the  blflBSOd  Saviour. 
u  May  8.  Burinan  day  of  worship.     Thronged  with  visitors 
through  the  day.     Had  more  or  less  company,  without  inter- 
i,  for  about  eight  hours.     Several  heard  much  of  the 
.  and  engaged  to  come  again.     Moung  Nau  was  with 
me  a  great  part  of  the  day,  and  assisted  me  much  in  explain- 
ing things  to  new  comers.     Towards  night  a  man  came  in, 
by  name  Moung  Shwaa  Go,  whom  I  think  it  time  to  mention 
particularly,  as  he  has  visited  me  several  times;  and  though, 
i'>ung  Nau,  apparently  backward  at  first,  he  appears  to 
be  really  thoughtful.     lie  is  a  young  man  of  twenty-seven, 
of  very  pleasant  exterior,  and   evidently  in   good  circum- 
J  V)or  Moung  Koo,  who  appeared  so  forward  at  first, 
alas!  too  forward!   has   quit    discontinued  his   visits.      No 
news  yet  from  the  villagers  of  Kambet  and  Little  Bridge. 

"May  9.    Lord's  day.     Mi  mug   Shwaa  Oo  came  in  the 
morning,  and  stayed  through  the  whole  day.     Only  two  or 


196  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

three  of  all  I  conversed  with  yesterday,  came  again.  Had, 
however,  an  assembly  of  thirty.  After  worship,  some  warm 
disputation.  I  begin  to  feel  that  the  JBurmans  cannot  stand 
before  the  truth.  In  the  course  of  the  conversation,  Moung 
Nau  declared  himself  a  disciple  of  Christ,  in  presence  of  a 
considerable  number  ;  and  even  Moung  Shwaa  Oo  appeared 
to  incline  the  same  way. 

"  May  10.  Early  in  the  morning,  Moung  Nau  came  to  take 
leave,  being  obliged  to  go  to  a  distance  after  timber,  his 
usual  occupation.  I  took  him  alone  and  prayed  with  him, 
and  gave  him  a  written  prayer  to  help  him  in  his  private 
devotion.  He  received  my  parting  instructions  with  great 
attention  and  solemnity  ;  said  he  felt  that  he  was  a  disciple 
of  Christ ;  hoped  that  he  should  be  kept  from  falling ;  de- 
sired the  prayers  of  us  all ;  expressed  a  wish  that,  if  he  held 
out  some  time  after  his  return,  we  would  allow  him  to  pro- 
fess Christ  in  baptism ;  and  so  he  departed.  The  Lord 
Jesus  go  with  him  and  bless  him.  He  is  poor.  I  felt  a  great 
desire  to  give  him  something,  but  thought  it  safer  to  put  no 
temptation  in  his  way.  If,  on  his  return,  he  still  cleaves  to 
Christ,  his  profession  will  be  more  satisfactory  than  it  would 
be  if  he  had  any  expectations  from  us. 

"May  11.  Had  more  or  less  company,  from  morning  till 
night ;  among  the  rest,  Moung  Shwaa  Oo,  and  two  or  three 
others,  who  appear  to  be  pretty  well  satisfied  that  the  Budd- 
hist religion  has  no  foundation.  Conversation  was  very  ani- 
mated, and  somewhat  encouraging ;  but  I  wanted  to  see 
more  seriousness,  and  more  anxiety  to  be  saved  from  sin. 

"  Heard  much,  to-day,  of  the  danger  of  introducing  a  new 
religion.  All  agreed  in  opinion  that  the  king  would  cut  off 
all  who  embraced  it,  being  a  king  who  could  not  bear  that 
his  subjects  should  differ  in  sentiment  from  himself;  and  who 
has,  lor  a  long  time,  persecuted  the  friends  of  the  established 
religion  of  the  empire,  because  they  would  not  sanction  all 


THE    ZAYAT.  197 

his  innovations.  Those  who  seemed  most  favorably  disposed, 
■whispered  me  that  I  had  better  not  stay  in  Rangoon,  and  talk 
to  common  people,  but  go  directly  to  the  "  lord  of  life  and 
rfsstfaV  If  he  approved  of  the  religion,  it  would  spread  rap- 
idly ;  but,  in  the  present  state  of  things,  nobody  would  dare 
to  prosecute  their  inquiries,  with  the  fear  of  the  king  before 
their  eyes.  They  brought  forward  the  case  of  the  Kolans,  a 
sect  of  Burmans  who  have  been  proscribed  and  put  to  death 
under  several  reigns.  J  tried  to  set  them  right  in  some 
points,  and  encourage  them  to  trust  in  the  care  of  an  al- 
mighty Saviour;  but  they  speak  low  and  look  around  fear- 
fully when  they  mention  the  name  of  the  "  owner  of  the 
sword." 

'•May  13.  Had  company  all  day,  without  intermission. 
About  noon,  Moung  Nau  came  in,  having  given  up  his  jour- 
D  account  of  the  unfaithfulness  of  his  employer.  His 
beha\iour  and  conversation  were  \vi\  satisfactory  He  re- 
grets the  want  of  a  believing  associate,  but  deelares  his  deter- 
mination of  adhering  to  Christ,  though  no  Burman  should 
join  him. 

"  Moung  Shwaa  Doan,  a  man  who  has  attended  two  Sun- 
days, and  mailf  some  occasional  visits,  was  with  me  several 
hours.  He  professes  to  have  felt  the  truth  of  this  religion 
ever  since  he  first  heard  about  it,  and  now  desires  to  be  a 
disciple  of  Christ.  He  has  obtained,  I  find,  considerable 
knowledge  of  the  Christian  system,  but  does  not  appear  to 
inch  sense  of  his  own  sins.  May  the  Spirit  teach  him 
what  man  cannot. 

••  .May  15.  Moung  Nau  has  been  with  me  all  day,  as  well 
as  yesterday.  He  is  anxious  to  be  revived  into  our  com- 
pany, and  thinks  it  a  great  privilege  to  be  the  first  among 
the  Burmans  in  professing  the  reli«r'.on  of  Jesus  Christ.  He 
has  been  told  plainly  that  he  ha*  nothing  to  expect  in  this 
world  but  persecution,  and  pc.uaps  death;  but  he  thinks  it 


198  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

better  to  die  for  Christ,  and  be  happy  hereafter,  than  to  live 
a  few  days  and  be  forever  wretched.  All  the  members  of 
the  mission  have,  at  different  times,  conversed  with  him,  and 
are  satisfied  that  a  work  of  grace  is  begun  in  his  heart. 

"May  16,  Lord's  day.  In  the  forenoon,  a  man  came  in 
from  Kyaikasan,  a  neighboring  village,  and  listened  with 
more  apparent  sincerity  than  is  commonly  manifested  the 
first  visit.  He  had  received  a  tract  about  a  year  ago,  and 
had  thought  considerably  on  the  subject. 

"  About  the  usual  number  was  present  at  worship,  but  a 
larger  proportion  than  common  were  strangers.  A  lawyer, 
belonging  to  the  viceroy,  and  some  other  respectable  per- 
sons, were  present,  and  gave  me  much  trouble,  without,  I  fear, 
receiving  any  benefit.  Moung  Shwaa  Doan  was  present, 
and  appeared  pretty  well  after  worship.  Moung  Shwaa  Oo 
has,  I  suppose,  returned  to  Henthadah,  the  next  city  above 
Rangoon.  He  took  no  leave  of  me ;  yet  I  cannot  give  up 
all  hope  of  him.  The  last  visit,  he  said  he  should  constantly 
read  my  writings,  and  pray  to  the  eternal  God. 

"  May  1 7.  Moung  Nau  has  received  an  advantageous  offer 
to  go  to  Ava,  in  the  employ  of  a  boat  owner.  We  were 
afraid  to  dissuade  him  from  accepting,  as  he  has  no  way  of 
getting  a  living,  and  equally  unwilling  to  have  him  absent 
several  months.  At  length  we  advised  him  not  to  go,  and 
he  at  once  acquiesced. 

"May  21.  Had  several  attentive  hearers  ;  among  the  rest 
Moung  A,  who  says  that  the  good  news  has  taken  hold  of  his 
mind.  I  have  been  so  frequently  disappointed  in  visitors 
who  appeared  promising  the  first  time,  but  never  came  again, 
that  I  have  lost  all  credit  in  early  professions ;  yet  I  cannot 
but  hope  well  of  this  man,  especially  as  Moung  Nau  ap- 
peared to  like  him  better  than  any  other  inquirer. 

"  May  22.  We  have  taken  Moung  Nau  to  live  with  us, 
intending  to  employ  him  in  copying  some  small  things  for 


THE   ZATAT.  19J> 

distribution,  which  we  cannot  get  printed  at  present,  and 
allow  him  ten  ticals  a  month.  Our  principal  object,  how- 
ever, is  to  keep  him  in  the  way  of  instruction,  hoping  that 
he  will  ultimately  be  useful  to  his  countrymen. 

"  At  night,  Moung  A  came  the  second  time,  and  appeared 
anxious  to  know  the  way  of  salvation.  But  I  am  grieved  to 
find  that  he  is  going  away  on  business  to-morrow  morning, 
and  will  be  absent  a  long  time. 

"  May  23,  Lord's  day.  The  Kyaikasan  villager  Moung 
X\  «>.  mentioned  last  Sunday,  came  again  with  three  compan- 
ions, lie  stayed  the  whole  day,  and  appears  to  be  in  the  same 
state  of  mind  as  Moung  A.  Both  say  they  are  convinced 
that  there  is  an  eternal  God ;  that  having  denied  him  all 
their  lives,  and  of  course  lived  contrary  to  his  commands, 
their  sins  are  great;  and  that  the  news  of  salvation,  through 
the  death  of  the  Son  of  God,  is  good  news.  Thus  far  they 
venture.  But  whether  the  Spirit  has  given,  or  will  give, 
then  true  love  to  the  Saviour,  and  thus  enable  them  to  trust 
in  him,  we  must  leave  for  time  to  ascertain. 

"  June  6,  Lord's  day.  Had  two  interesting  visitors.  They 
were  present  at  worship,  and  stayed  till  dark  —  certain  they 
should  come  again  —  but  will  they  ? 

"  After  partaking  of  the  Lord's  supper  in  the  evening,  we 
read  and  considered  the  following  letter  of  Moung  Nau, 
which  he  wrote,  of  his  own  accord  :  — 

" 4 1,  Moung  Nau,  the  constant  recipient  of  your  excellent 
favor,  approach  your  feet.  Whereas  my  Lord's  three  have 
come  to  the  country  of  Burmah,  —  not  for  the  purposes  of 
trade,  but  to  preach  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of 
rnal  God,  —  I,  having  heard  and  understood,  am,  with 
a  joyful  mind,  filled  with  love. 

"'I  believe  that  the  divine  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  suffered 
death,  in  the  place  of  men,  to  atone-  for  their  sins.  Like  a 
heavy-laden  man,  I  feel  my  sins  are  very  many.     The  pun- 


200  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

ishment  of  my  sins  I  deserve  to  suffer.  Since  it  is  so,  do 
you,  sirs,  consider  that  I,  taking  refuge  in  the  merits  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  receiving  baptism,  in  order  to  become 
his  disciple,  shall  dwell  one  with  yourselves,  a  band  of  broth- 
ers, in  the  happiness  of  heaven,  and  therefore  grant  me 
the  ordinance  of  baptism  ?  *  It  is  through  the  grace  of  Jesus 
Christ  that  you,  sirs,  have  come  by  ship  from  one  country 
and  continent  to  another,  and  that  we  have  met  together. 
I  pray  my  Lord's  three  that  a  suitable  day  may  be  appointed, 
and  that  I  may  receive  the  ordinance  of  baptism. 

" '  Moreover,  as  it  is  only  since  I  have  met  with  you,  sirs, 
that  I  have  known  about  the  eternal  God,  I  venture  to  pray 
that  you  will  still  unfold  to  me  the  religion  of  God,  that  my 
old  disposition  may  be  destroyed,  and  my  new  disposition 
improved.' " 

"  We  have  all,  for  some  time,  been  satisfied  concerning  the 
reality  of  his  religion,  and  therefore  voted  to  receive  him  into 
church  fellowship,  on  his  being  baptized,  and  proposed  next 
Sunday,  for  administering  the  ordinance. 

"  June  20,  Lord's  day.  For  the  last  fortnight,  have  had 
but  little  company  at  the  zayat,  owing  probably  to  the  rains, 
which  have  now  fully  set  in.  The  town  has  also  been  in 
great  confusion,  in  prospect  of  the  viceroy's  departure  for 
Ava.  We  have  been  called  on  to  pay  another  tax  of  fifteen 
ticals  —  got  off  with  paying  half.  Have  had  several  other 
molestations  from  petty  officers  of  government.  Concluded 
to  postpone  Moung  Nau's  baptism  till  the  viceroy  be  fairly 
off.  He  left  Rangoon  yesterday,  and  has  arrived  at  the  next 
village,  which  is  a  kind  of  rendezvous  to  the  vast  multitude 
of  boats  that  accompany  him. 

*  At  the  time  of  writing  this,  not  having  heard  much  of  baptism, 
he  seems  to  have  ascribed  an  undue  efficacy  to  the  ordinance.  He 
has  since  corrected  his  error;  but  the  translator  thinks  it  the  most 
fair  and  impartial  to  give  the  letter  just  as  it  was  written  at  first. 


THE    ZAYAT.  201 

"  To-day,  Moung  Shwaa  Doan  appeared  again,  after  an 
absence  of  several  weeks,  and  a  little  revived  our  hopes  con- 
cerning him.  Several,  whom  I  have  particularly  mentioned, 
have  discontinued  their  visits,  though  I  am  satisfied  that  they 
are  convinced  of  the  falsity  of  the  Burman  religion,  and  of 
the  truth  of  the  Christian.  I  cannot  possibly  penetrate  their 
motives.  Whether,  after  several  visits,  they  meet  with  some 
threatening  suggestion,  that  awakens  their  fears  of  persecu- 
tion, or  whether,  at  a  certain  stage  in  their  inquiries,  they  get 
such  an  insight  into  the  gospel  as  rouses  the  enmity -of  the 
carnal  heart,  I  am  not  able,  from  my  experience  hitherto,  to 
ascertain. 

"  June  21.  The  town  is  in  the  utmost  anxiety  and  alarm. 
Order  after  order  has  reached  our  viceroy,  to  hasten  his  re- 
turn to  Ava,  with  all  the  troops  under  arms.  Great  news 
are  whispered.  Some  say  there  is  a  rebellion  ;  some  say  the 
sick,  some  that  he  is  dead.  But  none  dare  to  say 
this  plainly.  It  would  be  a  crime  of  the  first  magnitude ;  for 
the  l  lord  of  land  and  water'  is  called  immortal.  The  eldest 
son  of  his  eldest  son  (his  father  being  dead)  has  long  been 
1  tin-  heir  of  the  crown ;  but  he  has  two  very  power- 
ful uncles,  who,  it  is  supposed,  will  contest  his  right  ;  and  in 
all  pr< liability  the  whole  country  will  soon  be  a  scene  of 
anarchy  and  civil  war. 

"  June  22.  Out  all  the  morning,  listening  for.  news,  un- 
certain whether  a  day  or  an  hour  will  not  plunge  us  into  the 
greatest  distress.  The  whole  place  is  sitting  in  sullen  silence, 
expecting  an  explosion.  About  10  o'clock,  a  royal  dispatch 
boat  pulls  up  to  tho  shore.  An  imperial  mandate  is  pro- 
duced. The  crowd  makes  way  for  the  sacred  messengers, 
and  follow  them  to  the  high  court,  where  the  authorities  of 
th»i  place  are  assembled.  Listen  ye:  The  immortal  king, 
wearied,  it  would  seem,  with  the  fatigues  of  royalty,  has  gone 
up  to  amuse  himself  in  the  celestial  regions.     His  grandson, 


202  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

the  heir-apparent,  is  seated  on  the  throne.  The  young  mon- 
arch enjoins  on  all  to  remain  quiet,  and  wait  his  imperial 
orders. 

"  It  appears  that  the  Prince  of  Toung  Oo,  one  of  his  uncles, 
has  been  executed,  with  his  family  and  adherents,  and  the 
Prince  of  Pyee  placed  in  confinement.  There  has  probably 
been  bloody  work ;  but  it  seems,  from  what  has  transpired, 
that  the  business  has  been  settled  so  expeditiously  that  the 
distant  provinces  will  not  feel  the  shock. 

"  June  23.  Had  some  encouraging  conversation  with 
Moung  Thahlah,  a  young  man  who  has  been  living  in  our 
yard  several  months.  He  has  lately  made  me  several  visits 
at  the  zayat,  and  appeared  very  thoughtful  and  teachable. 
To-day,  on  being  asked  the  state  of  his  mind,  he  replied,  with 
some  feeling,  that  he,  and  all  men  were  sinners,  and  exposed 
to  future  punishment ;  that  according  to  the  Buddhist  system, 
there  was  no  way  of  pardon ;  but  that  according  to  the  relig- 
ion which  I  taught,  there  was  not  only  a  way  of  pardon,  but 
a  way  of  enjoying  endless  happiness  in  heaven ;  and  that, 
therefore,  he  wanted  to  believe  in  Christ.  I  stated  to  him, 
as  usual,  that  he  must  think  much  on  the  love  of  Christ,  and 
pray  to  God  for  an  enlightened  and  loving  heart,  and  then 
gave  him  a  form  of  prayer  suited  to  his  case. 

"  In  the  female  evening  meeting,  his  sister,  Ma  Baik,  whose 
husband  also  lives  in  our  yard,  manifested  considerable  feel- 
ing, especially  when  Mrs.  Judson  prayed  with  her  alone, 
and  expressed  strong  desire  to  obtain  an  interest  in  the 
Saviour. 

"June  27,  Lord's  day.  There  were  several  strangers 
present  at  worship.  After  the  usual  course,  I  called  Moung 
Nau  before  me,  read  and  commented  on  an  appropriate  por- 
tion of  Scripture,  asked  him  several  questions  concerning 
his  faith,  hope,  and  love,  and  made  the  baptismal  prayer,  hav- 
ing concluded  to  have  all  the  preparatory  exercises  done  in 


THE    ZATAT.  203 

the  zayat.  We  then  proceeded  to  a  large  pond  in  the  vicin- 
ity, the  bank  of  which  is  graced  with  an  enormous  image  of 
Gaudama,  and  there  administered  baptism  to  the  first  Bur- 
man  convert.  O,  may  it  prove  the  beginning  of  a  series  of 
baptisms  in  the  Burman  empire,  which  shall  continue  in  un- 
interrupted succession  to  the  end  of  time  ! 

"July  4,  Lord's  day.  We  have  had  the  pleasure  of  sitting 
down,  for  the  first  time,  to  the  Lord's  table  with  a  converted 
Burman;  and  it  was  my  privilege  —  a  privilege  to  which  I 
have  been  looking  forward  with  desire  for  many  years  —  to 
administer  the  Lord's  supper  in  two  languages." 


Henceforth  the  zayat  was  Mr.  Judson's  chosen,  best- 
beloved  sphere  of  labor.  He  could  indeed  leave  it,  at 
the  call  of  duty  ;  and  he  believed  that  duty  required  him 
to  spend  a  large  portion  of  his  best  years  in  scholastic 
labor.  This  sacrifice  is  perhaps  the  greatest  which  he 
ever  made.  For  though  one  of  his  leading  objects,  in 
selecting  Burmah  as  his  mission-field,  was  the  hope  of 
giving  it  the  Bible,  yet  no  sooner  had  he  tasted  of  the 
work  of  preaching  to  the  heathen,  than  all  other  kinds 
of  Christian  labor  faded,  comparatively,  out  of  his 
affections.  This  direct  contact  with  human  beings, 
this  laboring,  watching,  praying  for  the  immediate  sal- 
vation of  his  brother,  this  djvinc  joy  of  welcoming  the 
new-born  soul  into  the  fellowship  of  the  saints,  satisfied 
the  deepest  yearnings  of  his  heart.  The  long  years 
spent  in  translation  seemed  not  even  to  diminish  this 


204  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

feeling ;  and  we  see  him  in  the  brief  intervals  of  study, 
bounding  away  with  almost  childish  joy  to  the  work  he 
loved.  He  did,  indeed,  perform  the  task  so  clearly 
assigned  him  by  his  Master,  not  only  with  the  con- 
scientious diligence  of  a  faithful  servant,  but  with  the 
enthusiasm  which  so  noble  a  work  should  inspire.  He 
gave  to  it  his  best  energies,  as  entirely  as  if  he  had  no 
wish  beyond.  It  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
truly  Earnest  Man,  thus  to  be  able  to  turn  the  whole 
force  of  his  will  into  any  channel  marked  out  by  Prov- 
idence. His  stronger  affinity  for  some  other  form  of 
labor  is  not  allowed  to  make  him  feeble  and  half-hearted 
in  his  work.  But  he  was  always  hoping  for  the  time, 
when  he  might  be  permitted  to  give  himself  wholly  to 
direct  missionary  labor ;  and  when  death  overtook  him, 
he  was  still  looking  forward,  with  all  his  youthful  en- 
thusiasm, to  a  few  last  happy  years,  to  be  spent  exclu- 
sively in  winning  souls. 

His  adaptation  to  the  work  of  the  gospel  minister, 
was  not  less  remarkable  than  the  strength  of  his  pas- 
sion for  it.  His  discernment  in  character,  his  penetra- 
tion into  motives,  had  almost  the  quickness  and  pre- 
cision of  instinct,  and  his  heart  ran  over  with  instant 
sympathy  at  every  form  of  human  need.  One  of  the 
native  assistants  remarked  to  Mrs.  Judson,  "that  it 
was  impossible  to  conceal  a  sin  from  him  ;  and  while 


THE    ZAYAT.  205 

the  culprit  was  exulting  in  fancied  security,  he  would 
suddenly  find  an  eye  fixed  upon  him,  which  was  per- 
fectly irresistible,  and  would  be  obliged,  in  spite  of 
himself,  to  go  to  the  teacher  and  confess."  "  He  knew 
us,"  said  the  same  person,  "  through  and  through,  much 
better  than  we  knew  ourselves.  If  we  had  done  any 
thing  amiss,  he  called  us  pleasantly,  talked  so"  (taking 
up,  by  way  of  illustration,  a  toy  that  lay  beside  him  on 
the  floor,  and  passing  his  finger  gently  round  the  rim,) 
"  and  talked,  and  talked,  and  talked,  till  suddenly,  be- 
fore we  knew  it,  he  pounced  upon  us  there"  —  striking 
iger  violently  on  the  centre  of  the  toy,  —  "and 
In  Id  08  lm-athless,  till  we  had  told  him  every  thing. 
Ah,  no  one  will  ever  know  us  poor  Burmans  so  again !" 
added  the  old  man,  mournfully.* 

Another   interesting   illustration   of  these   traits   is 
furnished  by  the  same  source. 

"A  native  Christian  woman  told  me  that  she  was  at  one 
time  about  to  engage  in  something  which  Dr.  Judson  con- 
sidered not  conducive  to  her  spiritual  good.  He  sent  for 
her,  and  remonstrated ;  but  she  would  not  give  up  her  dar- 
oject.  "Look  here!"  said  he,  eagerly  snatching  a 
ruler  from  the  tnble,  and  tracing  not  a  very  straight  line  on 
the  floor ;  "  here  is  where  you  have  been  walking.  You 
have  made  a  crooked  track,  to  be  sure  —  out  of  the  path 

*Mrs.   Judson'a   Anecdotal    and   Sketches,  in    Dr.   Wayland's 
Memoirs. 


!T5 


206  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

half  of  the  time ;  but  then  you  have  kept  near  it,  and  not 
taken  to  new  roads,  and  you  have  —  not  so  much  as  you 
might  have  done,  mind,  but  still  to  a  certain  extent  —  grown 
in  grace ;  and  now,  with  all  this  growth  upon  your  heart  and 
head,  in  the  maturity  of  your  years,  with  ripened  under- 
standing and  an  every  day  deepening  sense  of  the  goodness 
of  God,  here,"  bringing  down  the  ruler  with  emphasis  to 
indicate  a  certain  position,  "  here  you  stand.  You  know 
where  this  path  leads.  You  know  what  is  before  you  — 
some  struggles,  some  sorrows,  and  finally  eternal  life  and  a 
crown  of  glory.  But  to  the  left*  branches  off  another  very 
pleasant  road,  and  along  the  air  floats,  rather  temptingly,  a 
pretty  bubble.  You  do  not  mean  to  leave  the  path  you 
have  walked  in  fifteen  years  —  fifteen  long  years  —  alto- 
gether ;  you  only  want  to  step  aside  and  catch  the  bubble, 
and  think  you  will  come  back  again ;  but  you  never  will. 
Woman,  think  !  Dare  you  deliberately  leave  this  straight 
and  narrow  path,  drawn  by  the  Saviour's  finger,  and  go  away 
for  one  moment  into  that  of  your  enemy  ?  Will  you  ?  will 
you  ?  will  YOU  ?  " 

"  I  was  sobbing  so,"  said  the  woman,  "  that  I  could  not 
speak  a  word;  but  he  knew,  as  he  always  did,  what  I 
meant;  for  he"~"knelt  down,  and  prayed  that  God  would 
preserve  me  in  my  determination.  I  have  made  a  great  many 
crooked  tracks  since,"  she  added,  tearfully  ;  "  but,  whenever 
I  am  unusually  tempted,  I  see  the  teacher  as  he  looked  that 
day,  bending  over  in  his  chair,  the  ruler  placed  on  the  floor 
to  represent  me,  his  finger  pointing  along  the  path  of  eternal 
life,  his  eye  looking  so  strangely  over  his  shoulder,  and  that 
terrible  '  Will  you  ? '  coming  from  his  lips,  as  though  it  was 
the  voice  of  God ;  and  I  pray  just  as  Peter  did,  for  I  am 
frightened." 


THE    ZAYAT.  207 

Such  a  man  must  love  to  preach,  and  cannot  but 
preach  effectively.  He  had  given  rich  promise  of 
power  in  the  pulpit  before  he  left  his  native  land. 
But  the  process  of  assimilation  to  his  adopted  country, 
which  made  him  so  signally  successful  as  a  missionary, 
involved  the  total  neglect  of  practice  in  English  preach- 
ing. Those  simple  talks  from  the  pulpit,  which  he 
gave  us  when  visiting  his  native  country  after  thirty 
years'  absence,  beautiful  as  they  were,  gave  no  idea  of 
his  power  as  a  Burman  preacher.  For  this,  we  must 
look  to  the  testimony  of  those  who  heard  him  when 
giving  unrestrained  utterance  to  his  thoughts  and  emo- 
tions in  the  familiar  assembly  of  the  zayat. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ZAYAT  JOURNAL  CONTINUED. 

The  character  of  Mr.  Judson's  labors,  and  the  pro- 
gress of  the  mission,  during  the  remainder  of  the  year 
1819,  will  be  best  presented  through  the  following  ex- 
tracts from  his  own  journal.  This  period  is  particularly 
interesting,  as  introducing  us  to  an  inquirer  from  the 
most  cultivated  class  of  Burmans,  the  metaphysical 
philosopher,  Moung  Shwa-gnong.  Some  explanation 
of  this  case  seems  necessary,  and  will  serve  for  the 
illustration  of  similar  ones  which  Mr.  Judson  was 
obliged  to  meet. 

Though  Buddhism  was  the  established  religion  of  the 
empire,  the  abjuration  of  which  rendered  the  offender 
liable  to  the  severest  penalties,  yet  the  Burmans  were 
not  all  Buddhists.  By  a  natural  reaction,  similar  to 
that  witnessed  in  Catholic  France,  many  of  the  most 
acute  minds  had  been  driven,  by  the  extravagant  super- 
stitions of  the  established  faith,  into  the  opposite  ex- 
treme of  infidelity.    Schools  of  metaphysical  philosophy 


THE    ZAYAT.  209 

had  arisen  from  time  to  time,  which,  in  the  subtlety  and 
force  of  their  reasonings,  would  not  compare  unfavor- 
ably with  those  of  their  kindred  in  enlightened  modern 
Europe.  "  The  doctrines  of  idealism  and  nihilism," 
6ays  Dr.  Judson,  "  were  fully  and  ably  discussed  by  the 
Brahmins  and  Buddhists,  centuries  before  the  time  of 
Berkely  and  Hume."  During  several  reigns  previous 
to  the  establishment  of  the  mission  in  Rangoon,  the 
occupant  of  the  throne  had  been  strongly  incliued  to 
free-thinking,  and  the  national  religion  and  its  ministers 
had,  in  consequence,  been  at  a  discount  in  public  estima- 
tion. Under  such  auspices,  rationalism  grew  and  flour- 
ished, though  its  disciples  still  found  it  prudent  to  con- 
form externally  to  the  established  faith.  For,  what- 
ever might  be  the  private  sympathies  of  the  monarch, 
the  throne  and  the  temple  were  too  intimately  con- 
nected, to  allow  of  any  direct  countenance,  on  his  part, 
of  innovations  in  matters  of  religion. 

It  would  have  been  no  child's  play,  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, to  meet  intellects  like  those  of  Moung  Shua- 
gnong,  Oo  Yan,  and  Moung  Long,  naturally  keen  and 
powerful,  and  trained  by  long  practice  to  the  adroitest 
use  of  dialectics.  But  for  a  foreigner  to  meet  them  in 
their  mother  tongue,  on  questions  so  difficult  and  elu- 
sive in  their  nature,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  silence  and 
convince  them,  argues  a  combination  of  talents  and  ac- 
14 


210  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

quirements  of  which  the  world  has  furnished  few  ex- 
amples. "What!"  said  Moung  Shwa-gnong,  on  one 
occasion,  "do  you  think  I  would  pay  you  the  least 
attention,  if  I  found  you  could  not  answer  all  my  ques- 
tions, and  solve  all  my  difficulties  ?  "  And  these  were 
not  merely  skeptical  cavils,  but,  in  great  part,  the  hon- 
est difficulties  of  a  deeply  reflective-  mind  respecting  the 
nature  and  government  of  God.  Would  it  not  have 
been  sad,  had  that  fine  intellect  gone  down  to  death,  in 
the  thick  darkness  of  heathenism,  for  lack  of  some  one 
to  resolve  its  doubts,  and  to  guide  it  to  the  true  source 
of  light  and  wisdom  ?  Who  will  say  that  genius  and 
learning  are  wasted  on  one  who  is  to  be  only  a  mission- 
ary to  the  heathen  ? 

"  August  26.  Was  visited  by  Moung  Shwa-gnong,  a 
teacher  of  considerable  distinction.  He  appears  to  be  half 
deist  and  half  skeptic,  the  first  of  the  sort  I  have  met  with 
among  the  Burmans.  He  however  worships  at  the  pagodas, 
and  conforms  to  all  the  prevailing  customs.  We  had  a  very 
interesting  debate,  in  which  we  cleared  up  some  prelimina- 
ries, preparatory,  I  hope,  to  future  discussions. 

"  Just  at  night,  the  viceroy,  returning  from  an  excursion  of 
pleasure,  passed  by  our  road,  for  the  first  time  since  the 
zayat  was  built.  He  was  seated  on  a  huge  elephant  at- 
tended by  his  guards  and  numerous  suite,  and,  as  he  passed, 
eyed  us  very  narrowly.  Several  Burmans  were  sitting 
round  me  and  Mrs.  Judson. 

"After  he  had  passed  some  time,  two  of  his  private  secreta- 
ries came  in  with  a  viceregal  order,  signifying  his  highness's 


THE    ZAYAT.  211 

detiie  to  see  the  manner  in  which  printing  is  executed.  I 
replied,  that  the  teacher  who  understood  printing  had  gone 
to  Bengal,  taking  the  types  with  him,  and  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  comply  with  the  order.  They  departed  with  evident 
dissatisfaction. 

"August  27.  In  order  to  obviate  the  bad  effects  of  the 
report  of  the  officers  of  yesterday,  I  went  to  the  government 
house,  intending  to  have  a  personal  interview  with  the  vice- 
roy. After  waiting  two  hours  in  the  levee  hall,  he  made  his 
nice,  and,  on  recognizing  me,  immediately  inquired 
about  the  press  and  types.  I  told  him  my  story,  and  when 
he  understood  that  I  was  ignorant  of  the  art  of  printing,  lie 
appeared  satisfied  to  let  the  matter  rest.  In  the  course  of  the 
low  words  which  passed  between  us,  he  said  that  he  wished 
to  get  several  Burman  books  printed.  He  seemed  to  be 
more  kindly  disposed  towards  me  than  formerly;  but  it  seems 
impossible  to  introduce  the  subjeet  of  religion  in  his  pres- 
ence, surrounded,  as  he  always  is,  with  a  crowd  of  courtiers 
and  •  .  petitioner!  and  lawyers. 

"  Had  but  just  retnraed  home,  when  the  teacher  Moung 
Shwa-gnong  came  again,  and  stayed  from  noon  till  quite  dark, 
-ed  incessantly  the  whole  time  ;  but  I  fear  that  no 
real  impression  is  made  on  his  proud,  skeptical  heart.  lie, 
i\  pffOmiaed  to  pray  to  the  eternal  God,  through  Jesus 
Christ,  and  appealed,  at  time-,  to  be  in  deep  thought.  He 
is  a  man  of  very  superior  argumentative  powers.  His  con- 
versation would  probably  shake  the  faith  of  many. 

"August  28.  A  great  deal  of  company  all  day  long. 
Quite  worn  out  with  incessant  toil.  At  night,  the  viceroy 
again  passed,  as  the  day  before  yesterday  ;  and  the  same 
in,  saying,  that  it  was  the  viceroy's  desire 
lioiiM  translate  and  get  printed*  if  possible,  some  his- 
torical writing  of  mv  country.  I  told  them  I  would  take  the 
;>})ortunity  of  calling  on  his  highness. 


212  TIIE    EARNEST    MAN. 

"August  31.  A  man,  by  name  Moung  Ing,  has  visited  the 
zayat  five  or  six  days  in  succession.  At  first,  a  variety  of 
other  company  prevented  my  attending  much  to  him,  and 
he  conversed  chiefly  with  Moung  Nau,  and  employed  him- 
self in  reading  Matthew.  He  once  told  Moung  Nau  that  he 
had  long  been  looking  after  the  true  religion,  and  was  ready 
to  wish  that  he  had  been  born  a  brute,  rather  than  die  in 
delusion,  and  go  to  hell.  Sunday  I  conversed  with  him 
largely,  and  his  attention,  during  worship,  was  very  close  and 
solemn.  To-day  he  has  made  me  half  inclined  to  believe 
that  a  work  of  grace  is  begun  in  his  soul.  He  says  that  he 
formerly  had  some  idea  of  an  eternal  God  from  his  mother, 
who  was  christened  a  Roman  Catholic,  in  consequence  of  her 
connection  with  a  foreigner;  but  that  the  idea  was  never 
rooted  in  his  mind  until  he  fell  in  with  the  zayat,  Within  a 
few  days,  he  has  begun  to  pray  to  this  God.  He  is  quite 
sensible  of  his  sins,  and  of  the  utter  inefficacy  of  the  Buddhist 
religion,  but  is  yet  in  the  dark  concerning  the  way  of  salva- 
tion, and  says  that  he  wants  to  know  more  of  Christ,  that  he 
may  love  him  more.  Lord  Jesus,  give  him  the  saving  knowl- 
edge of  thine  adorable  self! 

"  September  1.  Moung  Thahlah  continues  to  express  simi- 
lar sentiments  to  those  already  noted ;  is  still  afraid  of  per- 
secution and  death,  but  professes  to  be  laboring  to  obtain 
that  love  to  Christ,  and  faith  in  him,  which  will  raise  him 
above  the  fear  of  man  ;  and  particularly  requests  us  to  pray 
that  he  may  obtain  these  graces. 

"  September  3.  A  great  crowd  of  company  through  the 
whole  day,  the  teacher  Moung  Shwa-gnong,  from  ten  o'clock 
till  quite  dark,  with  several  of  his  adherents.  He  is  a  com- 
plete Proteus  in  religion,  and  I  never  knew  where  to  find 
him.  We  went  over  a  vast  deal  of  ground,  and  ended  where 
we  began,  in  apparent  incredulity.  After  his  adherents, 
however,  were  all  gone,  he  conversed  with  some  feeling; 


THE    ZAYAT.  213 

owned  that  he  knew  nothing,  and  wished  me  to  instruct  him ; 
and  when  lie  departed,  he  prostrated  himself,  and  performed 
the  sheeko  —  an  act  of  homage  which  a  Burman  never  per- 
forms but  to  an  acknowledged  superior. 

•♦After  he  was  gone,  Moung  lag,  who  1ms  been  listening  all 
day,  followed  me  hone  to  the  house,  being  invited  to  stay 
with  Moung  Nau  through  the  night.  We  conversed  all  the 
evening,  and  his  expressions  have  satisfied  us  all  that  he  is 
one  of  Cod's  chOMB  people.  His  exercises  have  been  of  a 
niiirh  stronger  diameter  than  those  of  the  others,  and  he 
-•■  s  himself  in  the  most  derided  manner.  He  desires 
to  become  a  disciple  in  profession,  as  well  as  to  be  in  Christ, 
and  declare!  his  inadinCllW  to  suffer  persecution  and  death 
for  the  love  of  Christ.  When  T  stated  the  danger  to  which 
he  was  exposing  himself  and  asked  him  whether  he  loved 
Christ  better  than  his  own  life,  be  replied,  very  deliberately 

k mill \  :  '  When  I  meditate  on  this  religion,  I  know 
not  what  it  is  to  love  mv  own  life.'  Thus  the  poor  fisherman, 
Moung  Ing,  is  taken,  while  the  learned  teacher,  Moung  Shwa- 
gnnng.  is  left. 

"September  8,  Lord's  day.  A  very  dull  day  —  not  one 
r  present  at  worship.  In  the  evening,  Moung  Thahlah 
was  a  spectator  of  our  partaking  of  the  Lord's  supper. 
Moung  Ing  could  not  be  present.  He  lives  at  some  distance, 
and  is  getting  ready  to  go  to  sea,  pursuant  to  his  purpose  be- 
fore he  became  acquainted  with  us.  We  have  endeavored 
to  dissuade  him  from  going,  and  to  keep  him  near  us ;  but 
we  are  afraid  that  his  circumstances  will  not  allow  him  to 
comply  with  our  advice  and  his  own  inclinations. 

•♦September  <i.  Spent  the  evening  in  conversing  with 
nail  who,  with  his  family,  has  lived  near  us 
for  some  time,  a  regular  attendant  on  worship,  an  indefatiga- 
ble Scholar  in  the  evening  school,  where  he  has  learned  to 
read,  though  fifty  years  old,  and  a  remarkably  moral  charac- 


214  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

ter.  In  my  last  conversation,  some  time  ago,  lie  appeared  to 
be  a  thorough  legalist,  relying  solely  on  his  good  works,  but 
yet  sincerely  desirous  of  knowing  and  embracing  the  truth. 
The  greater  part  of  the  evening  Ayas  spent  in  discussing  his 
erroneous  views  ;  his  mind  seemed  so  dark  and  dull  of  appre- 
hension, that  I  was  almost  discouraged.  Towards  the  close, 
however,  he  seemed  to  obtain  some  evangelical  discoveries, 
and  to  receive  the  humbling  truths  of  the  gospel  in  a  manner 
which  encourages  us  to  hope  that  the  Spirit  of  God  has 
begun  to  teach  him.  The  occasion  of  this  conversation  was 
my  hearing  that  he  said  that  he  intended  to  become  a  Chris- 
tian, and  be  baptized  with  Moung  Thahlah.  He  accordingly 
professes  a  full  belief  in  the  eternal  God,  and  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ. 

"  September  7.  Am  grieved  that  Moung  Ing  comes  no 
more.  Presume  he  has  gone  otf,  contrary  to  our  advice, 
and  was  reluctant  to  take  leave  of  us  under  such  circum- 
stances. 

"  September  10.  Surprised  by  a  visit  from  Moung  Ing.  It 
appears  that  he  has  been  confined  at  work  on  board  the  ves- 
sel in  which  he  is  engaged,  and  has  not  been  ashore  for  sev- 
eral days.  As  the  vessel  is  certainly  going  to-morrow,  he 
got  leave  of  absence  for  a  short  time,  and  improved  it  in  run- 
ning out  to  the  zayat.  I  was  exceedingly  glad,  as  it  afforded 
me  an  opportunity  of  giving  him  some  parting  instructions, 
and  praying  with  him  alone.  He  appears  very  well  indeed. 
He  is  quite  distressed  that  he  has  so  far  engaged  himself,  and 
appears  desirous  of  getting  off,  and  returning  to  us,  if  possi- 
ble ;  but  I  have  very  little  hope  of  his  succeeding.  I  believe, 
however,  that  he  is  a  real  Christian,  and  that,  whenever  he 
dies,  his  immortal  soul  will  be  safe,  and  that  he  will  praise 
God  forever  for  his  transient  acquaintance  with  us.  The 
Lord  go  with  him  and  keep  him. 

"  September  11.    Moung  Shwa-gnong  has  been  with  me  all 


THE    ZAYAT.  215 

day.  It  appears  that  he  accidentally  obtained  the  idea  of  an 
eternal  Being  about  eight  years  ago;  and  it  has  been  floating 
about  in  his  mind,  and  disturbing  his  Buddhistic  ideas  ever 
sime.  When  he  heard  of  us,  which  was  through  one  of  his 
adherents,  to  whom  I  had  given  a  tract,  this  idea  received 
considerable  confirmation  ;  and  to-day  he  has  fully  admitted 
the  truth  of  this  first  grand  principle.  The  latter  part  of  the 
day  we  were  ehieilv  employed  in  discussing  the  possibility 
and  nerosity  of  a  divine  revelation,  and  the  evidence  which 
proves  that  the  writings  of  the  apostles  of  Jesus  contain  that 
revelation;  and  I  think  I  may  say  that  he  is  half  inclined  to 
admit  all  this.  He  is  certainly  a  most  interesting  case. 
The  way  m bum  to  be  prepared  in  his  mind  for  the  special 
oj><  ration  of  divine  grace.  Come,  Holy  Spirit,  heavenly 
Dove! 

"  Ills  conversion  seems  peculiarly  desirable,  on  account  of 

-  rior  talents  and  extensive  acquaintance  with  Bur- 
md  Pali  literature.     He  is  the  most  powerful  reasoner 
1  hav  yrt  met  with  in  this  country,  excepting  my  old  teach- 
er, Oo  Ooung-men,  (now  dead,)  and  is  not  at  all  inferior  to 
lum. 

"September  15.     Moung  Thahlah  spent  the  evening  with 
me  in  asking  several  questions  on  difficult  passages  in  Mat- 

At  the  eloae,  I  Baked  him  whether  he  yet  loved  Christ 
more  than  his  own  life  ;  he  understood  my  meaning,  and 
replied  that  he  purposed  to  profess  the  Christian  religion, 
an«l  begM  to  think  seriously  of  being  baptized.  I  Lis  sister, 
.Mi  l'>aik.  appears  to  have  lost  her  religious  impressions. 

-t  ember  16.  Alter  having  lately  made  two  unsuccessful 
attempt^  to  get  an  interview  with  the  viceroy,  I  this  day  suc- 
Ile  inquired  about  the  historical  writings.  I  told 
him  1  was  not  so  well  acquainted  with  that  style  of  writing 
in  Burman  as  with  the  religious  style,  and  then  presented 
him  with  a  tract,  as  a  specimen  of  what  I  could  do.     He  de- 


216  THE    EARNEST    MAX. 

livered  it  to  a  secretary,  and  on  hearing  the  first  sentence, 
remarked  that  it  was  the  same  with  a  writing  he  had  already- 
heard,  and  that  he  did  not  want  that  kind  of  writing.  I  sup- 
pose that  one  of  the  secretaries,- to  whom  I  had  formerly  given 
a  tract,  presented  it  without  my  knowledge. 

"  September  18.  Moung  Shwa-gnong  has  been  with  me  a 
few  hours ;  had  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  day  with  Oo 
Yah,  the  merchant  that  I  mentioned  some  time  ago,  convers- 
ing on  religion.  Our  interview  chiefly  passed  in  discussing 
his  metaphysical  cavils. 

"  September  19,  Lord's  day.  The  teacher  and  Oo  Yah  came 
to  worship,  according  to  their  agreement  of  yesterday,  ac- 
companied with  part  of  the  family  of  the  latter,  and  several 
respectable  men  of  their  acquaintance,  so  that  the  assembly 
consisted  of  about  fifty.  Some  paid  profound  attention,  and 
some  none  at  all.  After  the  exercises,  Oo  Yah  seemed 
afraid  to  have  it  appear  that  he  had  any  acquaintance  with 
me,  and  kept  at  a  distance.  They  finally  all  dropped  away 
but  the  teacher,  who  stayed,  as  usual,  till  quite  dark.  He  is, 
in  many  respects,  a  perfect  enigma  ;  but  just  before  he  left,  a 
slight  hope  began  to  spring  up  in  their  minds  that  liis  proud 
heart  was  yielding  to  the  cross.  He  confessed  that  he  was 
constrained  to  give  up  all  dependence  on  his  own  merits  and 
his  literary  attainments ;  that  he  had  sinned  against  God  all 
his  life  long,  and  that,  therefore,  he  deserved  to  suffer  hell. 
And  then  he  asked,  with  some  feeling,  how  he  could  obtain 
an  interest  in  the  merits  and  salvation  of  Jesus  Christ.  He 
appears  to  have  a  considerable  share  of  that  serious  solem- 
nity which  1  have  observed  to  characterize  the  few  who  per- 
severe in  their  religious  inquiries,  and  which  has  been  want- 
ing in  every  instance  of  mere  temporary  promise.  O  that  he 
may  be  brought  in,  if  it  is  not  too  great  a  favor  for  this  infant 
mission  to  receive. 

"  September  20.     One  of  the  three  visitors  of  the  19th  of 


THE    ZAYAI.  217 

August  came  again,  and,  though  a  long  interval  has  elapsed, 
his  appearance  is  quite  encouraging.  He  says,  feelingly,  that 
he  knows  nothing,  is  distressed  at  tin-  thought  of  dying  in  his 
present  ignorance  and  uncertainty,  and  wants  to  find  some 
kind  of  salvation. 

"  September  26,  Lord's  day.  Moting  Shwa-gnong  came, 
with  several  adherents.  Some  warm  conversation  before 
worship,  but  nothing  personal.  During  worship,  discoursed 
from,  '  Fear  not  them  that  kill  the  body,'  &c.  My  discourse 
was  chiefly  Intended  for  Moung  Tliahlah  and  Moung  Byaa; 
but  the  latter  was  absent,  on  account  of  sickness.  After 
worship,  the  teacher  immediately  departed  with  his  people, 
without  even  saying  a  word.  Fear  he  has  taken  some 
offence. 

"  October  5.  Received  a  visit  from  the  teacher.  'My  hopes 
of  his  conversion  are  very  low.  He  is  settling  down  in 
deism,  and  evidently  avoids  all  conversation  of  a  personal 
nature. 

"  October  6.  Conversation  with  Moung  Thahlah  and 
Moung  Byaa,  which  revives  my  hopes  of  their  coming  for- 
ward before  long.  They  are  both  growing  in  religious 
knowledge,  and  give  evidence  of  being  in  the  exercise  of 
gracious  feelings. 

u  October  7.  Was  rejoiced,  in  the  morning,  to  sec  the 
teacher  Moung  Shwa-gnong  come  again  so  soon.  We  spent 
the  day  together,  uninterrupted  by  other  company.  In  the 
forenoon  he  was  as  crabbed  as  possible  ;  sometimes  a  Berke- 
leian,  sometimes  a  Ilumeite  or  complete  skeptic.  But  in  the 
afternoon  he  got  to  be  more  reasonable,  and  before  he  left 
he  obtained  a  more  complete  idea  of  the  atonement  than  I 
have  commonly  been  able  to  communicate  to  a  Barman. 
He  exclaimed:  'Tbat  is  suitable;  that  is  as  it  should  be,' 
&c.  But  whether  this  conviction  resulted  from  a  mere  phil- 
osophic view  of  the  propriety  and  adaptedness  of  the  way  of 


218  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

salvation  through  Jesus  Christ,  or  from  the  gracious  opera- 
tions of  the  Holy  Spirit,  time  must  discover.  I  hardly  ven- 
ture to  hope  the  latter.  O  Lord,  the  work  is  thine  !  O 
come,  Holy  Spirit! 

"  October  23.  Have  for  some  days  been  wondering  at  the 
long  absence  of  the  teacher.  To-day  heard  a  report  that  he 
has  been  summoned  by  the  viceroy  to  give  an  account  of  his 
heretical  sentiments. 

"  At  night,  Moung  Thahlah  and  Moung  Byaa  presented  a 
paper,  professing  their  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  Requesting 
to  be  baptized,  but  in  private.  We  spent  some  time  with 
them.  They  appear  to  have  experienced  divine  grace  ;  but 
we  advised  them,  as  they  had  so  little  love  to  Christ  as  not  to 
dare  to  die  for  his  cause,  to  wait  and  reconsider  the  matter. 

<k  October  29.  The  teacher  came  again,  after  an  interval  of 
three  weeks  ;  but  he  appears  to  be  quite  another  man.  He 
has  not  been  personally  summoned,  as  we  heard  ;  but,  through 
the  instigation  of  the  Mangen  teacher,  he  was  mentioned  be- 
fore the  viceroy  as  having  renounced  the  religion  of  the 
country.  The  viceroy  gave  no  decisive  order,  but  merely 
said :  l  Inquire  further  about  him.'  This  reached  the  ears  of 
Moung  Shwa-gnong ;  and  he  directly  went  to  the  Mangen 
teacher,  and,  I  suppose,  apologized,  and  explained,  and  flat- 
tered. He  denies  that  he  really  recanted,  and  I  hope  he  did 
not ;  but  he  is  evidently  falling  off  from  the  investigation  of 
the  Christian  religion.  He  made  but  a  short  visit,  and  took 
leave  as  soon  as  he  could  decently. 

"November  1.  One  of  the  greatest  festivals  in  the  year. 
The  crowds  are  truly  immense  and  overwhelming.  We  va- 
cated the  zayat,  as  we  have  several  days  of  late,  beginning  to 
query  whether  it  is  prudent  to  go  on  boldly  in  proclaiming  a 
new  religion,  at  the  hazard  of  incensing  the  government,  and 
drawing  down  such  persecution  as  may  deter  all  who  know 
us  from  any  inquiry.  t 


THE    ZATAT.  219 

"November  2.  This  is  the  birthday  and  the  coronation 
day  of  the  new  king.  All  the  grandees  of  the  empire  have, 
for  some  time  past,  been  assembling  at  Ava,  to  be  present  at 
the  august  celebration. 

"November  G.  The  two  candidates  for  baptism  again 
presented  their  urgent  petition  that  they  might  be  baptized, 
not  absolutely  in  private,  but  about  sunset,  away  from  public 
observation.  We  spent  some  hours  hi  again  discussing  the 
subject  with  them  and  with  one  another.  We  felt  satisfied 
that  they  were  humble  disciples  of  Jesus,  and  were  desirous 
of  receiving  this  ordinance  purely  out  of  regard  to  his  com- 
mand and  their  own  spiritual  wellarc  ;  we  felt  that  we  were 
all  equally  exposed  to  danger,  and  needed  a  spirit  of  mutual 
candor,  and  forbearance,  and  sympathy  ;  we  were  convinced 
that  they  were  influenced  rather  by  desires  of  avoiding  un- 
necessary exposure  than  by  that  sinful  fear  which  would 
plunge  them  into  apostasy  in  the  hour  of  trial;  and  when 
mired  us  that,  if  actually  brought  before  government, 
tin  v  could  not  think  of  denying  their  Saviour,  we  could  not 
conscientiously  refuse  their  request,  and  therefore  agreed  to 
have  them  baptized  to-morrow  at  sunset.  The  following  is  a 
literal  translation  of  the  paper  presented  this  evening:  — 

••  •  Moling  Byaa  and  Moung  Thahlah  venture  to  address 
the  two  teachers :  Though  the  country  of  Burmah  is  wry  far 
distant  from  the  country  of  America,  yet  the  teachers,  com- 
ing by  ship  the  long  way  of  six  months,  have  arrived  at  this 
far  distant  country  of  Burmah,  and  town  of  Rangoon,  and 
proclaimed  the  propitious  news  by  means  of  which  we,  hav- 
>me  acquainted  with  the  religion,  know  that  there  is 
an  eternal  God  in  heaven,  and  that  there  is  a  divine  Son, 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  deserving  of  the  highest  love  ;  and 
we  know  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  divine  Son,  endured, 
on  account  of  all  his  disciples,  sufferings  and  death,  even 
severe  sullerings  on  a  cross,  in  their  stead.     On  account  of 


220  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

our  sins,  we  were  like  persons  laden  with  a  very  heavy  bur- 
den. On  account  of  our  many  sins,  we  found  no  deliverance, 
no  place  of  refuge,  and  our  minds  were  distressed.  In  this 
state  remaining,  the  two  teachers  produced  the  sacred  sys- 
tem from  the  Scriptures,  and  we  became  informed  of  the 
existence  of  the  one  God,  and  of  the  facts  that  the  divine 
Son,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  redeemed  with  his  sacred  life  all 
who  love  and  trust  in  him,  and,  in  order  to  save  his  disciples 
from  hell,  suffered  death  in  their  stead.  Now  we  know  that 
we  have  sinned  against  the  sacred  One,  and  we  know,  as- 
suredly, that  if  we  become  disciples  of  the  divine  Son,  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  shall  be  saved  from  the  hell  which  we 
deserve.  We  desire  to  become  disciples,  and  with  the  two 
teachers,  like  children  born  of  the  same  mother,  to  worship 
the  true  God,  and  observe  the  triie  religion. 

" '  On  seaching  in  the  Scriptures  for  ancient  rules  and  cus- 
toms, it  does  not  appear  that  John  and  other  baptizers  ad- 
ministered baptism  on  any  particular  time,  or  day,  or  hour. 
We,  therefore,  venture  to  beg  of  the  two  teachers,  that  they 
will  grant  that  on  the  6th  day  of  the  wane  of  the  Tanzoung- 
mong  moon,  (November  7,)  at  six  o'clock  at  night,  we  may 
this  once  receive  baptism  at  their  hands.' 

"  November  7,  Lord's  day.  We  had  worship  as  usual,  and 
the  people  dispersed.  About  half  an  hour  before  sunset,  the 
two  candidates  came  to  the-  zayat,  accompanied  by  three  or 
four  of  their  friends  ;  and  after  a  short  prayer,  we  proceeded 
to  the  spot  where  Moung  Nau  was  formerly  baptized.  The 
sun  was  not  allowed  to  look  upon  the  humble,  timid  profes- 
sion. No  wondering  crowd  crowned  the  overshadowing  hill. 
No  hymn  of  praise  expressed  the  exultant  .feelings  of  joyous 
hearts.  Stillness  and  solemnity  pervaded  the  scene.  We 
felt,  on  the  banks  of  the  water,  as  a  little,  feeble,  solitary 
band.  But  perhaps  some  hovering  angels  took  note  of  the 
event  with  more  interest  than  they  witnessed  the  late  coro- 


THE    ZATAT.  221 

nation ;  perhaps  Jesus  looked  down  on  us,  pitied  and  forgave 
our  weaknesses,  and  marked  us  for  his  own  ;  perhaps,  if  we 
deny  him  not,  he  will  acknowledge  us,  another  day,  moro 
publicly  than  we  venture  at  present  to  acknowledge  him. 

"In  the  evening,  we  all  united  in  commemorating  (he  dy- 
ing love  of  our  Redeemer ;  and  I  trust  we  enjoyed  a  little  of 
his  gracious  presence  in  the  midst  of  us. 

"  November  10.  This  evening  is  to  be  marked  as  the  date 
of  the  first  Burman  prayer  meeting  that  was  ever  held. 
None  present  but  myself  and  the  three  converts.  Two  of 
them  made  a  little  beginning  —  such  as  must  be  expected 
from  the  first  essay  of  converted  heathens.  We  agreed  to 
meet  for  this  purpose  every  Tuesday  and  Friday  evening, 
immediately  after  family  worship,  which  in  the  evening  has 
for  some  time  been  conducted  in  Burman  and  English,  and 
which  these  people,  and  occasionally  some  others,  have 
attended. 

•-  November  14,  Lord's  day.  Have  been  much  gratified  to 
find  that  this  evening  the  three  converts  repaired  to 

Till.  ZAYAT,  AND  HELD  A  PRAYER  MEETING  OF  TIIEIR 
OWN  ACCORD. 

"  November  26.  On  taking  our  usual  ride  this  morning, 
to  bathe  in  the  mineral  tank,  we  were  accosted,  on  one  of  the 
pagoda  roads,  by  the  Mangen  teacher,  and  peremptorily  for- 
bidden to  ride  there  in  future  on  pain  of  being  beaten.  On 
our  return  we  inquired  into  the  affair,  and  find  that  the  vice- 
roy has  really  issued  an  order,  at  the  instigation  of  this 
teacher,  that  henceforth  no  person  wearing  a  hat,  shoes,  or 
umbrella,  or  mounted  on  a  horse,  shall  approach  within  the 
sacred  ground  belonging  to  the  great  pagoda,  which  ground 
extends  on  some  sides  half  a  mile,  and  comprises  all  the  prin- 
cipal roads  ;  so  that  in  future  we  must  take  a  circuitous  route 
in  the  woods,  if  we  wish  to  visit  our  usual  place  of  resort. 
This  consideration,  however,  is  very  trifling,  compared  with 


222  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

another.  The  viceroy's  orcier  is  quite  unprecedented  in 
Rangoon,  and  indicates  a  state  of  feeling  on  the  subject  of 
religion  very  unfavorable  to  our  missionary  designs.  Since 
the  death  of  the  old  king,  who  was  known  to  be  in  heart  hos- 
tile to  religion,  people  have  been  more  engaged  than  ever  in 
building  pagodas,  making  sacred  offerings,  and  performing 
the  public  duties  of  their  religion.  They  are  just  now  en- 
gaged in  new  gilding  the  great  pagoda,  called  Shwa  Dagon, 
which  is  considered  the  most  sacred  in  the  country,  on  ac- 
count of  its  containing  six  or  eight  hairs  of  Gaudama. 

"  Ever  since  the  affair  of  Moung  Shwa-gnong,  there  has 
been  an  entire  falling  off  at  the  zayat.  I  sometimes  sit  there 
whole  days  without  a  single  visitor,  though  it  is  the  finest  part 
of  the  year,  and  many  are  constantly  passing.  We  and  our 
object  are  now  well  known  throughout  Rangoon.  None  wish 
to  call,  as  formerly,  out  of  curiosity,  and  none  dare  to  call 
from  a  principle  of  religious  inquiry.  And  were  not  the 
leaders  in  ecclesiastical  affairs  confident  that  we  shall  never 
succeed  in  making  converts,  I  have  no  doubt  we  should  meet 
with  direct  persecution  and  banishment. 

"  Our  business  must  be  fairly  laid  before  the  emperor.  If 
he  frown  upon  us,  all  missionary  attempts  within  his  domin- 
ions will  be  out  of  the  question.  If  he  favor  us,  none  of  our 
enemies,  during  the  continuance  of  his  favor,  can  touch  a  hair 
of  our  heads.  But  there  is  a  greater  than  the  emperor,  be- 
fore whose  throne  we  desire  daily  and  constantly  to  lay  this 
business.  O  Lord  Jesus,  look  upon  us  in  our  low  estate,  and 
guide  us  in  our  dangerous  course  ! 

"  November  21.  Moung  Shwa-gnong  has  been  with  us  the 
greater  part  of  the  day,  and  a  little  revived  our  hopes  con- 
cerning him. 

"November  27.  This  day  brother  Colman  and  myself 
came  to  a  final  decision  to  proceed  to  Ava  without  delay,  and 
lay  our  business  before  the  emperor. 


THE    ZAYAT.  223 

"  November  29.  Letters  from  Bengal  and  America,  the 
first  for  six  months.  Learned  the  particulars  of  the  melan- 
choly end  of  our  lamented  brother  Wheelock.  The  news  of 
his  death  reached  us  some  time  ago.  Learned  also  that 
brother  Hough  intends  staying  in  Bengal.  The  tract  which 
we  forwarded  is  not  yet  printed  —  a  circumstance  which 
occasions  us  much  regret,  as  we  hoped  to  have  obtained 
some  copies  to  carry  up  to  Ava. 

44  December  4.  Another  visit  from  Moung  Shwa-gnong. 
After  several  hours  spent  in  metaphysical  cavils,  he  owned 
that  he  did  not  believe  any  thing  he  had  said,  and  had  only 
beeH  trying  me  and  the  religion,  being  determined  to  em- 
brace nothing  but  what  he  found  unobjectionable  and  impreg- 
nable. '  What,'  said  he,  *  do  you  think  that  I  would  pay  you 
the  least  attention  if  I  found  you  could  not  answer  all  my 
questions,  and  solve  all  my  difficulties  ?  ■  He  then  proceeded 
to  say,  that  he  really  believed  in  God,  his  Son  Jesus  Christ, 
the  atonement,  &c.  Said  I,  knowing  his  deistical  weakness, 
4  Do  you  believe  all  that  is  contained  in  the  book  of  Matthew, 
that  I  have  given  you  ?  In  particular,  do  you  believe  that 
the  Son  of  God  died  on  a  cross?'  4Ah,'  replied  he,  4you 
have  caught  me  now.  I  believe  that  he  suffered  death,  but 
I  cannot  admit  that  he  suffered  the  shameful  death  of  the 
cross.'  *  Therefore,'  said  I,  4  you  are  not  a  disciple  of  Christ. 
A  true  disciple  inquires  not  whether  a  fact  is  agreeable  to 
his  own  reason,  but  whether  it  is  in  the  book.  His  pride  has 
yielded  to  the  divine  testimony.  Teacher,  your  pride  is  still 
unbroken.  Break  down  your  pride,  and  yield  to  the  word  of 
He  stopped  and  thought.  4As  you  utter  those  words,' 
said  he,  4 1  see  my  error.  I  have  been  trusting  in  my  own 
reason,  not  in  the  word  of  God.'  Some  interruption  now 
rx-rurred.  When  we  were  again  alone,  he  said,  4  This  day  is 
deferent  from  all  the  days  on  which  I  have  visited  you.  I 
see  my  error  in  trusting  in  my  own  reason ;  and  I  now  be- 


224  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

lieve  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  because  it  is  contained  in  the 
Scripture.'  Some  time  after,  speaking  of  the  uncertainty  of 
life,  he  said  he  thought  he  should  not  be  lost,  though  he  died 
suddenly.  Why  ?  '  Because  I  love  Jesus  Christ.'  •  Do 
you  really  love  him ? '  'No  one  that  really  knows  him  can 
help  loving  him/     And  so  he  departed." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


VISIT    TO    THE    EMPEROR. 


From  several  allusions  in  the  extracts  contained  in 
Chapter  xiv.,  it  will  have  been  seen  that,  towards  the 
close  of  1819,  a  sad  change  had  come  over  the  pros- 
pects of  the  mission.  The  leading  cause  of  this  re- 
verse, was  the  accession  of  a  monarch  to  the  throne, 
who  was  a  zealous  Buddhist.  The  influence  of  such 
an  event,  in  an  absolute  despotism  like  Burmah,  would 
necessarily  be  felt  in  every  part  of  the  empire.  The 
exemption  from  open  persecution,  hitherto  enjoyed* 
by  the  mission,  had  doubtless  been  owing,  primarily,  to 
the  known  indifference  of  the  former  king  towards  the 
established  religion  ;  though,  even  then,  an  open  renun- 
ciation of  it  was  deemed  extremely  hazardous.  But 
now,  when  it  was  ostentatiously  patronized  by  "  the  lord 
of  life  and  death,"  and  "  the  owner  of  the  sword,"  it 
became  the  interest  of  every  one  to  exhibit  great  zeal 
for  the  ancient  faith.  The  timidity  of  inquirers  kept 
pace  with  the  insolence  of  the  priesthood  and  govern- 
15 


226  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

ment  officials.  The  zayat,  which  in  previous  years 
had  often  been  thronged  with  visitors,  was  now  shun- 
ned as  an  infected  spot.  Mr.  Judson  often  sat  here 
•whole  days,  uncheered  by  a  single  call,  though  people 
were  passing  by  from  morning  till  night.  Meantime, 
the  new  pagodas  starting  up  in  all  directions,  the  re- 
gilding  of  the  great  temple  of  Shwa-da-gon,  the  in- 
creased number  of  worshippers,  and  of  rich  offerings 
at  the  sacred  places,  all  proclaimed  the  reviving  glory 
of  Buddhism.  Mr.  Judson  was  convinced,  that  nothing 
but  the  assurance  of  his  inability  to  accomplish  any 
thing,  prevented  his  immediate  banishment  from  the 
country ;  and  that,  unless  something  should  speedily 
occur  to  change  the  current  of  public  feeling,  the  last 
days  of  the  mission  were  at  hand. 

It  now  appeared  to  him  that  the  moment  had  ar- 
rived, when  a  bold  step,  long  revolved  in  his  mind, 
could  no  longer  be  deferred.  He  determined  to  go  up 
at  once  to  Ava,  the  imperial  residence,  and  endeavor 
to  obtain  toleration  for  the  Christian  religion,  from  his 
majesty  in  person. 

Two  years  before,  he  had  anticipated  the  probable 
necessity  of  such  a  step ;  but  was  unwilling  to  hazard 
the  consequences,  until  compelled  by  the  pressure  of 
providential  events.  The  issue  was,  indeed,  much 
more  doubtful  now,  than  before ;  yet  it  was  not  alto- 


VISIT    TO    THE    EMPEROR.  227 

gether  a  hopeless  case.  With  a  liberality,  which,  as 
compared  with  the  policy  of  some  Christian  nations, 
reflects  great  credit  on  its  intelligence,  the  Burman 
government  had  always  allowed  to  foreigners  perfect 
toleration  in  religious  matters,  restricted  only  by  the 
prohibition  of  proselyting  the  subjects  of  the  realm. 
The  Mohammedan  practised  the  rites  of  his  faith  as 
freely  and  openly  as  if  in  the  land  of  the  Prophet ;  and 
the  Romish  priests,  who  had  established  themselves  in 
the  empire  many  years  before,  suffered  no  molestation 
till  they  were  found  making  Burman  converts.  Could 
Mr.  Judson  have  contented  himself  to  labor  among  the 
English  residents  of  the  country,  he  could  have  done 
so  without  danger,  under  the  very  eye  of  the  imperial 
government.  Was  it  not  to  be  hoped  that,  by  proper 
representations,  it  might  be  induced  to  advance  one 
step  further  in  this  liberal  policy,  by  allowing  to  its 
own  subjects  the  same  freedom  of  choice  which  it 
granted  to  foreigners  ?  The  mission,  as  things  were, 
was  virtually  at  an  end ;  and  an  unfavorable  act  of 
the  government  could  not  make  its  condition  essen- 
tially worse;  while  a  favorable  answer  from  "the 
golden  lips,"  or  a  mere  friendly  reception,  without  any 
ion  of  the  royal  will,  would  at  once  re- 
move its  embarrassments,  and  place  it  beyond  the  tyr- 
anny of  the  provincial  authorities.     Every  other  door 


228  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

of  hope  being  closed,  he  felt  himself  obliged  to  make 
the  attempt. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,"  thus  he  writes  to  the  Board, 
"  it  appears  to  us  that  there  remains  but  one  course  of  pro- 
ceeding —  to  go  directly  into  the  imperial  presence,  lay  our 
missionary  designs  before  the  throne,  and  solicit  toleration 
for  the  Christian  religion.  By  this  proceeding,  we  hope  to 
discover  the  real  feelings  and  sentiments  of  the  emperor. 
We  hope  to  ascertain,  as  distinctly  as  possible,  whether  he  is 
devoted  to  Buddhism,  or  has  imbibed  in  any  degree  the  opin- 
ions of  his  grandfather,  and  disguises  them  at  present,  from 
motives  of  policy  merely.  If  the  former  be  the  case,  he  will 
prohibit  our  missionary  work,  and  we  shall  be  under  the  ne- 
cessity of  leaving  his  dominions.  If  the  latter  be  the  case, 
and  he  be,  in  any  measure,  pleased  with  the  Christian  sys- 
tem, he  will,  we  hope,  give  us  at  least  such  private  encour- 
agement as  will  enable  us  to  prosecute  our  work  without  in- 
curring the  charge  of  rashness  and  enthusiasm. 

"  In  approaching  the  throne,  we  desire  to  have  a  simple 
dependence  on  the  presence  and  power  of  our  Saviour,  and 
a  single  eye  to  his  glory.  We  have  indeed  no  other  ground 
of  hope ;  we  ought  to  have  no  other  view.  We  trust  that,  if 
the  set  time  to  favor  Burmah  is  come,  He  who  is  wonderful 
in  counsel,  and  excellent  in  working,  will  open  a  wide  and 
effectual  door  for  the  promulgation  of  divine  truth.  But  if 
the  Lord  has  other  purposes,  it  becomes  us  meekly  to  acqui- 
esce, and  willingly  to  sacrifice  our  dearest  hopes  to  the  divine 
will.  We  rest  assured,  that,  in  either  case,  the  perfections 
of  God  will  be  displayed,  and  desire  to  be  thankful  that  we 
are  allowed  to  be  in  any  way  instrumental  in  contributing  to 
that  display." 

Objections  have  been  made  to  this  measure,  as  savor- 


VISIT    TO    THE    EMPEROR.  229 

ing  too  much  of  worldly  policy.  But,  can  it  be  wrong 
to  ask  any  human  government,  even  that  of  a  pagan 
despot,  to  protect  its  subjects  in  the  exercise  of  the 
rights  of  conscience  ?  In  such  a  case  this  cannot,  to 
be  sure,  be  done  exactly  in  the  form  suitable  when  ad- 
dressing a  professedly  Christian  government ;  such,  for 
instance,  as  was  used  by  Baptists,  when  claiming  those 
rights  from  the  Massachusetts  Assembly.  In  terms 
conformed  to  oriental  ideas  of  propriety,  but  with  no 
expression  of  fulsome  adulation  or  abject  servility,  the 
Christian  missionary  petitions  that  his  Royal  Majesty 
will  be  pleased  to  open  his  dominions  to  the  preaching 
of  the  true  religion ;  and  that,  should  any  of  his  sub- 
jects be  disposed  to  embrace  it,  his  official  servants 
may  be  restrained  from  molesting  them.  The  appli- 
cation is  based  on  the  Emperor's  power,  as  the  political 
head  of  the  nation  ;  not  on  his  right  to  dictate  in  mat- 
ters of  conscience.  Similar  applications  are  constantly 
made  to  the  sovereigns  of  Europe,  by  their  subjects,  of 
various  evangelical  sects  not  recognized  by  law,  as  well 
as  by  English  and  American  Christians  in  their  behalf. 
And,  where  perfect  religious  equality  cannot  be  ob- 
tained in  such  cases,  it  is  not  thought  wrong  to  receive 
gratefully  the  most  limited  form  of  toleration.  Mr. 
Judson's  view  of  the  case  is  thus  presented,  in  a  letter 
on  the  subject  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  written  in  1817. 


230  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

"  No  local  government  would  dare  to  persecute  the  espous- 
ers  of  a  new  religion,  if  it  was  known  that  they  had  friends 
at  court.  I  do  not  mean  to  imply,  that  all  persecution  is  to 
be  dreaded,  but  that  persecution  which  would  effectually 
prevent  the  use  of  the  means  of  grace,  certainly  is.  It  is 
true  that  God  will  call  those  whom  he  has  chosen  ;  but  since 
he  has  made  means  necessary  to  the  end,  since  it  is  by  the 
gospel  of  his  Son  that  he  calls  his  people,  it  is  certainly  as 
much  the  duty  of  his  servants  to  endeavor  to  avert  such  per- 
secution as  would  effectually  prevent  the  use  of  means,  as  it 
is  to  use  any  means  at  all ;  and  we  may  reasonably  conclude 
that,  when  God  has  a  people  whom  he  is  about  to  call,  he 
will  direct  his  servants  in  such  a  course." 

Dr.  Baldwin,  a  man  of  great  practical  wisdom,  fully- 
concurred  in  this  view.  Mr.  Judson  thus  writes  to 
him,  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  Ava,  in  1819: 
"  Brother  Colman  and  myself  have  therefore  concluded 
to  follow  your  advice,  by  going  up  to  Ava,  and  laying 
our  business  before  the  monarch."  *  Through  life,  Mr. 
Judson  continued  to  regard  the  object  which  he  now 
sought,  as  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  spread  of 
Christianity  in  Burmah.  In  1824,  he  repeated  the 
attempt,  in  connection  with  Mr.  Crawford's  embassy  ; 
and  in  1849,  but  for  the  failure  of  pecuniary  means,  he 
would  again  have  proceeded  to  the  capital,  and  spent 
his  last  days  in  furtherance  of  the  object. 

But  whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  wisdom  or  pro- 

*  American  Baptist  Magazine,  New  Series,  vol.  ii.  p.  380. 


VISIT    TO    THE    EMPEROR.  231 

priety  of  the  step,  every  one  must  admire  the  Christian 
courage  and  self-devotion  with  which  he  took  his  life  in 
his  hand,  and  ventured,  on  such  an  errand,  into  the 
presence  of  this  haughty  eastern  autocrat.  The  details 
of  the  visit  are  given,  with  singular  beauty  and  pathos, 
in  Mr.  Judson's  journal. 

Journal. 

"  December  21.  After  having  made  arrangements  for  our 
wives'  residence  in  town  during  our  absence,  brother  Colman 
and  myself  embarked.  Our  boat  is  six  feet  wide  in  the  mid- 
dle, and  forty  feet  long.  A  temporary  deck  of  bamboos  is 
laid  throughout,  and  on  the  hinder  part  of  the  boat  the  sides 
arc  raited  with  thin  lx>ards,  and  a  covering  of  thatch,  and 
mats  tied  on,  so  as  to  form  two  low  rooms,  in  which  we  can 
just  sit  and  lie  down.  Our  company  consists  of  sixteen  be- 
sides ourselves  :  ten  rowmen,  a  steersman,  a  headman  — 
whose  name  is  inserted  in  our  passport,  and  who,  therefore, 
derives  a  little  authority  from  government,  —  a  steward  or 
cook  for  the  company,  which  place  is  filled  by  our  trusty 
Moung  Nau,  —  our  own  cook,  a  Hindoo  washerman,  and 
an  Englishman,  who,  having  been  unfortunate  all  his  life, 
wishes  to  try  the  service  of  his  Burman  majesty;  and  this 
last  personage  may  be  called  our  gunner,  he  having  charge 
of  several  guns  and  blunderbusses,  which  are  indispensable 
on  account  of  the  robbers  that  infest  the  river. 

"We  have  been  much  perplexed  in  fixing  on  a  present  for 
the  emperor,  without  which  no  person  unauthorized  can  ap- 
pear in  big  pretence.  Our  funds  were  evidently  inadequate 
to  tin;  purchase  of  articles  which  would  be  valuable  to  him 
in  a  pcruniary  point  of  view.  When  we  considered,  also,  that 
there  ought  to  be  a  congruity  between  the  present  and  our 


232  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

character,  we  selected  that  book  which  we  hope  to  be  allowed 
to  translate  under  his  patronage,  the  Bible,  in  six  volumes, 
covered  with  gold  leaf,  in  Burman  style,  and  each  volume 
inclosed  in  a  rich  wrapper.  For  presents  to  other  members 
of  government,  we  have  taken  several  pieces  of  fine  cloth 
and  other  articles. 

"  Thus  manned  and  furnished,  we  pushed  off  from  the 
shores  of  Rangoon.  The  teacher  Moung  Shwa-gnong,  had 
not  been  to  see  us  for  several  days,  ashamed,  probably,  of 
having  declined  accompanying  us ;  but  just  as  we  were  push- 
ing oflf,  we  saw  his  tall  form  standing  on  the  wharf.  He 
raised  his  hand  to  his  head,  and  bade  us  adieu,  and  continued 
looking  after  the  boat  until  a  projecting  point  shut  Rangoon 
and  all  its  scenes  from  our  view.  When  shall  we  redouble 
this  little  point  ?  Through  what  shall  we  pass  ere  the  scene 
now  snatched  away  be  re-presented  ?  The  expedition  on 
which  we  have  entered,  however  it  may  terminate,  is  una- 
voidably fraught  with  consequences  momentous  and  solemn 
beyond  all  conception.  We  are  penetrating  into  the  heart 
of  one  of  the  great  kingdoms  of  the  world,  to  make  a  formal 
offer  of  the  gospel  to  a  despotic  monarch,  and  through  him 
to  the  millions  of  his  subjects.  May  the  Lord  accompany 
us,  and  crown  our  attempt  with  the  desired  success,  if  it  be 
consistent  with  his  wise  and  holy  will. 

"At  night,  we  moored  by  the  banks  of  Kyee-myen-daing. 
It  was  near  this  place  that,  a  few  days  ago,  one  of  the  boats 
belonging  to  Mr.  G.,  late  collector  of  Rangoon,  was  attacked 
by  robbers,  and  the  steersman  and  another  man  killed  at  a 
single  shot.  We  felt  unwilling  to  remain  at  this  village,  but 
found  it  necessary. 

"  On  the  30th  reached  Kah-noung,  a  considerable  town, 
about  ninety  miles  from  Rangoon.  Here  we  met  a  special 
officer  from  Bassein,  with  a  detachment  of  men,  sent  in  pur- 
suit of  a  band  of  robbers  who  lately  made  a  daring  attack  on 


VISIT    TO    THE    EMPEKOK.  233 

a  large  boat,  wounded  and  beat  off  the  people,  and  took 
plunder  to  the  amount  of  fifteen  hundred  deals.  The  com- 
mander offered  us  an  escort  for  the  journey  of  to-morrow, 
which  lies  through  a  dangerous  tract  of  country  ;  but  we  de- 
clined accepting,  as  we  should  have  been  obliged  to  give  the 
people  presents,  without  deriving  any  substantial  assistance 
in  the  hour  of  danger.     Strict  watch  all  night. 

"January  17,  1820.  Reached  Pugan,  a  city  celebrated  in 
Burman  history,  being,  like  Pyee,  the  seat  of  a  fonner  dy- 
nasty. It  is  about  two  hundred  and  sixty  miles  from  Ran- 
goon. 

"January  18.  Took  a  survey  of  the  splendid  pagodas  and 
extensive  ruins  in  the  environs  of  this  once  famous  city. 
Ascended  as  far  as  possible  some  of  the  highest  edifices,  and, 
at  the  height  of  one  hundred  feet,  perhaps,  beheld  all  tho 
country  round,  covered  with  temples  and  monuments  of  every 
sort  and  size ;  some  in  utter  ruin,  some  fast  decaying,  and 
some  exhibiting  marks  of  recent  attention  and  repair.  The 
remains  of  the  ancient  wall  of  the  city  stretched  beneath 
us.  The  pillars  of  the  gates,  and  many  a  grotesque,  decapi- 
tated relic  of  antiquity,  checkered  the  motley  scene.  All 
conspired  to  suggest  those  elevated  and  mournful  ideas  which 
are  attendant  on  a  view  of  the  decaying  remains  of  ancient 
grandeur ;  and,  though  not  comparable  to  such  ruins  as  those 
of  Palmyra  and  Balbec,  (as  they  are  represented,)  still  deep- 
ly interesting  to  the  antiquary,  and  more  deeply  interesting 
to  the  Christian  missionary.  Here,  about  eight  hundred 
years  ago,  the  religion  of  Buddh  was  first  publicly  recognized 
and  established  as  the  religion  of  the  empire.  Here,  then, 
Ah-rah-han,  the  first  Buddhist  apostle  of  Burmah,  under  the 
patronage  of  King  Anan-ra-tha-men-zan,  disseminated  tho 
doctrines  of  atheism,  and  taught  his  disciples  to  pant  after 
annihilation,  as  the  supreme  good.  Some  of  the  ruins  before 
our  eyes  were  probably  the  remains  of  pagodas  designed  by 


234  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

himself.  We  looked  back  on  the  centuries  of  darkness  that 
are  past.  We  looked  forward,  and  Christian  hope  would 
fain  brighten  the  prospect.  Perhaps  we  stand  on  the  divid- 
ing line  of  the  empires  of  darkness  and  light  O,  shade  of 
Ah-rah-han,  weep  over  thy  falling  fanes;  retire  from  the 
scenes  of  thy  past  greatness.  But  thou  smilest  at  my  feeble 
voice.  Linger,  then,  thy  little  remaining  day.  A  voice 
mightier  than  mine,  a  still  small  voice,  will  ere  long  sweep 
away  every  vestige  of  thy  dominion.  The  churches  of  Jesus 
will  soon  supplant  these  idolatrous  monuments,  and  the 
chanting  of  the  devotees  of  Buddh  will  die  away  before  the 
Christian  hymn  of  praise. 

"  January  25.  Passed  Old  Ava,  the  seat  of  the  dynasty 
immediately  preceding  the  present,  and  Tsah-gaing,  a  place 
of  some  note,  distinguished  for  its  innumerable  pagodas,  and 
the  residence  of  one  or  two  late  emperors,  and  about  noon 
drew  up  to  O-ding-man,  the  lower  landing-place  of  New 
Ava,  or  Amarapoora,  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
from  Rangoon.  At  our  present  distance  of  nearly  four 
miles  from  the  city,  (and  we  cannot  get  nearer  this  season,) 
it  appears  to  the  worst  advantage.  We  can  hardly  distin- 
guish the  golden  steeple  of  the  palace  amid  the  glittering 
pagodas,  whose  summits  just  suffice  to  mark  the  spot  of  our 
ultimate  destination. 

"January  26.  We  set  out  early  in  the  morning,  called  on 
Mr.  G.,  late  collector  of  Rangoon,  and  on  Mr.  R.,  who  was 
formerly  collector,  but  is  now  out  of  favor.  Thence  we  en- 
tered the  city,  passed  the  palace,  and  repaired  to  the  house 
of  Mya-day-men,  former  viceroy  of  Rangoon,  now  one  of 
the  public  ministers  of  state,  (woon-gyee.)  We  gave  him  a 
valuable  present,  and  another  of  less  value  to  his  wife,  the 
lady  who  formerly  treated  Mr.  G.  with  so  much  politeness. 
They  both  received  us  very  kindly,  and  appeared  to  interest 
themselves  in  our  success.     We,  however,  did  not  disclose 


VISIT    TO    THE    EMPEROR.  235 

our  precise  object,  but  only  petitioned  leave  to  behold  the 
golden  face.  Upon  this,  his  highness  committed  our  business 
to  Moung  Yo,  one  of  his  favorite  officers,  and  directed  him 
to  introduce  us  to  Moung  Zah,  one  of  the  private  ministers 
of  rtate,  (a-twen-woon,)  with  the  necessary  orders.  This 
particular  favor  of  Mya-day-men  prevents  the  necessity  of 
our  petitioning  and  feeing  all  the  public  ministers  of  state, 
and  procuring  formal  permission  from  the  high  court  of  the 
empire. 

"  In  the  evening,  Moung  Yo,  who  lives  near  our  boat, 
called  on  us  to  say  that  he  would  conduct  us  to-morrow. 
We  lie  down  in  sleepless  anxiety.  To-morrow's  dawn  will 
usher  in  the  most  eventful  day  of  our  lives.  To-morrow's 
eve  will  elose  on  the  bloom  or  the  blight  of  our  fondest  hopes. 
Yet  it  is  consoling  to  commit  this  business  into  the  hands  of 
our  heavenly  Father  —  to  feel  that  the  work  is  his,  not  ours ; 
that  the  heart  of  the  monarch  before  whom  we  are  to  ap- 
pear, is  under  the  control  of  Omnipotence  ;  and  that  the 
event  will  be  ordered  in  the  manner  most  conducive  to  the 
divine  glory  and  the  greatest  good.  God  may,  for  the  wisest 
purposes,  suffer  our  hopes  to  be  disappointed ;  and  if  so,  why 
should  short-sighted,  mortal  man  repine  ?  Thy  will,  O  God, 
r  done;  for  thy  will  is  inevitably  the  wisest  and  the 
best. 

**  January  27.  We  left  the  boat,  and  put  ourselves  under 
the  conduct  of  Moung  Yo.  lie  carried  us  first  to  Mya-day- 
men,  as  a  matter  of  form ;  and  there  we  learned  that  the 
enij)«ror  had  been  privately  apprised  of  our  arrival,  and  said, 
*  Let  them  be  introduced.'  We  therefore  proceeded  to  the 
palace.  At  the  outer  gate,  we  were  detained  a  long  time, 
until  the  various  officers  were  satisfied  that  we  had  a  right  to 
enter,  after  which  we  deposited  a  present  for  the  private 
minister  of  state,  Moung  Zah,  and  were  ushered  into  his 
apartments  in  the  palace  yard.     He  received  us  very  pleas- 


236  THE    EARNEST    MAX. 

antly,  and  ordered  us  to  sit  before  several  governors  and 
petty  kings,  who  were  waiting  at  his  levee.  We  here,  for  the 
first  time,  disclosed  our  character  and  object  —  told  him  that 
we  were  missionaries,  or  '  propagators  of  religion ; !  that  we 
wished  to  appear  before  the  emperor,  and  present  our  sacred 
books,  accompanied  with  a  petition.  He  took  the  petition 
into  his  hand,  looked  over  about  half  of  it,  and  then  familiarly 
asked  several  questions  about  our  God,  and  our  religion,  to 
which  we  replied.  Just  at  this  crisis,  some  one  announced 
that  the  golden  foot  was  about  to  advance;  on  which  the 
minister  hastily  rose  up,  and  put  on  his  robes  of  state,  saying 
that  he  must  seize  the  moment  to  present  us  to  the  emperor. 
We  now  found  that  we  had  unwittingly  fallen  on  an  unpro- 
pitious  time,  it  being  the  day  of  the  celebration  of  the  late 
victory  over  the  Kathays,  and  the  very  hour  when  his  majesty 
was  coming  forth  to  witness  the  display  made  on  the  occasion. 
When  the  minister  was  dressed,  he  just  said,  '  How  can  you 
propagate  religion  in  this  empire  ?  But  come  along.'  Our 
hearts  sank  at  these  inauspicious  words.  He  conducted  us 
through  various  splendor  and  parade,  until  we  ascended  a 
flight  of  stairs,  and  entered  a  most  magnificent  hall.  He 
directed  us  where  to  sit,  and  took  his  place  on  one  side  ;  the 
present  was  placed  on  the  other;  and  Moung  Yo  and  another 
officer  of  Mya-day-men  sat  a  little  behind.  The  scene  to 
which  we  were  now  introduced  really  surpassed  our  expec- 
tation. The  spacious  extent  of  the  hall,  the  number  and 
magnitude  of  the  pillars,  the  height  of  the  dome,  the  whole 
completely  covered  with  gold,  presented  a  most  grand  and 
imposing  spectacle.  Very  few  were  present,  and  those  evi- 
dently great  officers  of  state.  Our  situation  prevented  us 
from  seeing  the  further  avenue  of  the  hall ;  but  the  end 
where  we  sat  opened  into  the  parade  which  the  emperor  was 
about  to  inspect.  We  remained  about  five  minutes,  when 
every  one  put  himself  into  the  most  respectful  attitude,  and 


VISIT   TO    THE   EMPEROR.  237 

Moung  Yo  whispered  that  his  majesty  had  entered.  We 
looked  through  the  hall  as  far  as  the  pillars  -would  allow,  and 
presently  caught  sight  of  this  modern  Ahasuerus.  He  came 
forward  unattended,  —  in  solitary  grandeur,  —  exhibiting  the 
proud  gait  and  majesty  of  an  eastern  monarch.  His  dress 
was  rich  but  not  distinctive  ;  and  he  carried  in  his  hand  the 
gold-sheathed  sword,  which  seems  to  have  taken  the  place  of 
ptre  of  ancient  times.  But  it  was  his  high  aspect  and 
commanding  eye  that  chiefly  riveted  our  attention.  He 
strided  on.  Every  head  excepting  ours  was  now  in  the  dust. 
We  remained  kneeling,  our  hands  folded,  our  eyes  fixed  on 
the  monarch.  When  he  drew  near,  we  caught  his  attention. 
He  stopped,  partly  turned  toward  us :  '  AVho  are  these  ? ' 
'  The  teachers,  great  king,'  I  replied.  '  What,  you  speak 
Bunnan  —  the  priests  that  I  heard  of  last  night?'  '  When 
did  you  arrive  ? '  'Are  you  teachers  of  religion  ? '  'Are  you 
like  the  Portuguese  priest?'  'Are  you  married?'  '  Why 
do»you  dress  so  ? '  These  and  some  other  similar  questions 
we  answered,  when  he  appeared  to  be  pleased  witli  us,  and 
sat  down  on  an  elevated  seat,  his  hand  resting  on  the  hilt  of 
his  sword,  and  his  eyes  intently  fixed  on  us.  Moung  Zah 
DOW  began  to  read  the  petition  ;  and  it  ran  thus  :  — 
-"'The  American  teachers  present  themselves,  to  receive 
the  favor  of  the  excellent  king,  the  sovereign  of  land  and 
sea.  Hearing  that,  on  account  of  the  greatness  of  the  royal 
power,  the  royal  country  was  in  a  quiet  and  prosperous  state, 
we  arrived  at  the  town  of  Rangoon,  within  the  royal  domin- 
ions, and  having  obtained  leave  of  the  governor  of  that  town 
to  conic  up  and  behold  the  golden  face,  we  have  ascended  and 
reached  the  bottom  of  the  golden  feet.  In  the  great  country 
of  America,  we  sustain  the  character  of  teachers  and  explain- 
ers of  the  contents  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  of  our  religion. 
And  since  it  is  contained  in  those  Scriptures,  that,  if  we  pass 
to  other  countries,  and  preach  and  propagate  religion,  great 


238  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

good  will  result,  and  both  those  who  teach  and  those  who 
receive  the  religion  will  be  freed  from  future  punishment, 
and  enjoy,  without  decay  or  death,  the  eternal  felicity  of 
heaven,  —  that  royal  permission  be  given,  that  we,  taking 
refuge  in  the  royal  power,  may  preach  our  religion  in  these 
dominions,  and  that  those  who  are  pleased  with  our  preaching, 
and  wish  to  listen  to  and  be  guided  by  it,  whether  foreigners 
or  Burmans,  may  be  exempt  from  government  molestation, 
they  present  themselves  to  receive  the  favor  of  the  excellent 
king,  the  sovereign  of  land  and  sea/ 

"  The  emperor  heard  this  petition,  and  stretched  out  his 
hand.  Moung  Zah  crawled  forward  and  presented  it.  His 
majesty  began  at  the  top,  and  deliberately  read  it  through. 
In  the  mean  time,  I  gave  Moung  Zah  an  abridged  copy  of  the 
tract,  in  which  every  offensive  sentence  was  corrected,  and 
the  whole  put  into  the  handsomest  style  and  dress  possible. 
After  the  emperor  had  perused  the  petition,  he  handed  it 
back  without  saying  a  word,  and  took  the  tract.  Our  hearts 
now  rose  to  God  for  a  display  of  his  grace.  '  O,  have  mercy 
on  Burmah !  Have  mercy  on  her  king ! '  But,  alas  !  the 
time  was  not  yet  come.  He  held  the  tract  long  enough  to 
read  the  first  two  sentences,  which  assert  that  there  is  one 
eternal  God,  who  is  independent  of  the  incidents  of  mortal- 
ity, and  that  beside  him,  there  is  no  God ;  and  then,  with  an 
air  of  indifference,  perhaps  disdain,  he  dashed  it  down  to  the 
ground.  Moung  Zah  stooped  forward,  picked  it  up,  and 
handed  it  to  us.  Moung  Yo  made  a  slight  attempt  to  save 
us  by  unfolding  one  of  the  volumes,  which  composed  our 
present,  and  displaying  its  beauty  ;  but  his  majesty  took  no 
notice.  Our  fate  was  decided.  After  a  few  moments, 
Moung  Zah  interpreted  his  royal  master's  will,  In  the  follow- 
ing terms :  '  Why  do  you  ask  for  such  permission  ?  Have 
not  the  Portuguese,  the  English,  the  Mussulmans,  and  people 
of  all  other  religions,  full  liberty  to  practise  and  worship  ac- 


VISIT    TO    THE    EMPEROR.  239 

cording  to  their  own  customs  ?  In  regard  to  the  objects  of 
your  petition,  his  majesty  gives  no  order.  In  regard  to  your 
sacred  books,  his  majesty  has  no  use  for  them ;  take  them 

"  Something  was  now  said  about  brother  Colman's  skill  in 
medicine ;  upon  which  the  emperor  once  more  opened  his 
mouth,  and  said:  '  Let  them  proceed  to  the  residence  of  my 
phy.sieian,  the  Portuguese  priest ;  let  him  examine  whether 
they  can  be  useful  to  me  in  that  line,  and  report  accordingly/ 
He  then  rose  from  his  seat,  strided  on  to  the  end  of  the  hall, 
and  there,  after  having  dashed  to  the  ground  the  first  intelli- 
gent- that  he  had  ever  received  of  the  eternal  God,  his 
Maker,  his  Preserver,  his  Judge,  he  threw  himself  down  on 
a  cushion,  and  lay  listening  to  the  music,  and  gazing  at  the 
parade  spread  out  before  him. 

"As  for  us  and  our  present,  we  were  huddled  up  and  hur- 
ried away,  without  much  ceremony.  We  passed  out  of  the 
palace  gates  with  much  more  facility  than  we  entered,  and 
••ndueted  first  to  the  house  of  Mya-day-men.  There 
his  officer  reported  our  reception,  but  in  as  favorable  terms 
as  possible ;  and  as  his  highness  was  not  apprised  of  our  pre- 
cise object,  our  repulse  appeared  probably  to  him  not  so  de- 
cisive as  we  knew  it  to  be.  We  were  next  conducted  two 
miles  through  the  heat  of  the  sun  and  dust  of  the  streets  of 
lence  of  the  Portuguese  priest.  He  very 
speedily  ascertained  that  we  were  in  possession  of  no  wonder- 
.  •  t.  which  would  secure  the  emperor  from  all  disease, 
and  make  him  live  forever;  and  we  were  accordingly  allowed 
Lave  of  the  reverend  inquisitor,  and  retreat  to  our 
boat 

*  At  this  stage  of  the  business,  notwithstanding  the  decided 
repuUe  we  had  received,  we  still  cherished  some  hope  of  ulti- 
mately gaining  our  point.  We  regretted  that  a  sudden  inter- 
ruption  had  prevented  our  explaining  our  objects  to  Moung 


240  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

Zah  in  that  familiar  and  confidential  manner  which  we  had 
intended;  and  we  determined,  therefore,  to  make  another 
attempt  upon  him  in  private. 

"  January  28.  Early  in  the  morning  we  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  our  friend  Mr.  G.  coming  to  our  boat.  It  may  not 
be  amiss  to  mention  that  he  is  the  collector  who  was  chiefly 
instrumental  in  relieving  us  from  the  exorbitant  demand 
which,  a  few  months  ago,  was  made  upon  us  in  Rangoon. 
He  now  told  us  that  he  had  heard  of  our  repulse,  but  would 
not  have  us  give  up  all  hope ;  that  he  was  particularly  ac- 
quainted with  Moung  Zah,  and  would  accompany  us  to  his 
house,  a  little  before  sunset,  at  an  hour  when  he  was  accessi- 
ble.    This  precisely  accorded  with  our  intentions. 

"  In  the  afternoon,  therefore,  we  called  on  Mr.  G.,  and  he 
went  with  us  into  the  city.  On  the  way,  we  paid  a  visit  to 
the  wife  of  the  present  viceroy  of  Rangoon,  whose  eldest  son 
is  married  to  the  only  daughter  of  the  present  emperor. 
We  carried  a  present,  and  were,  of  course,  kindly  received. 

"  Thence  we  went  to  the  house  of  Moung  Zah,  some  way 
beyond  the  palace.  He  received  us  with  great  coldness  and 
reserve.  The  conversation,  which  we  carried  on  chiefly 
through  Mr.  G.,  it  is  unnecessary  to  detail.  Suffice  it  to  say, 
that  we  ascertained  beyond  a  doubt,  that  the  policy  of  the 
Burman  government,  in  regard  to  the  toleration  of  any  for- 
eign religion,  is  precisely  the  same  with  the  Chinese ;  that  it 
is  quite  out  of  the  question,  whether  any  of  the  subjects  of 
the^emperor,  who  embrace  a  religion  different  from  his  own, 
will  be  exempt  from  punishment ;  and  that,  we,  in  presenting 
a  petition  to  that  effect,  had  been  guilty  of  a  most  egregious 
blunder,  an  unpardonable  offence.  Mr.  G.  urged  every  ar- 
gument that  we  suggested,  and  some  others  He  finally 
stated,  if  we  obtained  the  royal  favor,  other  foreigners  would 
come  and  settle  in  the  empire,  and  trade  would  be  greatly 
benefited.     This  argument  alone  seemed  to  have  any  effect 


VISIT    TO    THE   EMPEROR.  241 

on  the  mind  of  the  minister,  and  looking  out  from  the  cloud 
which  covered  his  face,  he  vouchsafed  to  say,  that  if  we  would 
wait  some  time,  he  would  endeavor  to  speak  to  his  Majesty 
about  us.  From  this  remark  it  was  impossible  to  derive  any 
encouragement ;  and  having  nothing  further  to  urge,  we  left 
Mr.  G.,  and  bowing  down  to  the  ground,  took  leave  of  this 
great  minister  of  state,  who,  under  the  emperor,  guides  the 
movements  of  the  whole  empire. 

m  It  was  now  evening.  We  had  four  miles  to  walk  by 
moonlight  Two  of  our  disciples  only  followed  us.  They 
had  ventured  as  near  as  they  durst  to  the  door  of  the  hall  of 
audience,  and  listened  to  words  which  sealed  the  extinction 
of  their  hope  and  ours.    For  some  time  we  spoke  not. 

*  Some  natural  tears  we  dropped,  but  wiped  them  soon; 
The  world  was  all  before  us,  where  to  choose 
Our  place  of  rest,  and  Providence  our  guide.' 

And,  as  our  first  parents  took  their  solitary  way  through 
Eden,  hand  in  hand,  so  we  took  our  way  through  this  great 
city,  which,  to  our  late  imagination,  seemed  another  Eden, 
but  now,  through  the  magic  touch  of  disappointment,  seemed 
blasted  and  withered,  as  if  smitten  by  the  fatal  influence  of 
the  cherubic  sword. 

"Arrived  at  the  boat,  we  threw  ourselves  down,  completely 
exhausted  in  body  and  mind.  For  three  days  we  had  walked 
eight  miles  ■  day,  the  most  of  the  way  in  the  heat  of  the  sun, 
which,  even  at  this  season,  in  the  interior  of  these  countries, 
is  exceedingly  oppressive,  and  the  result  of  our  travels  and 
toils  has  been  —  the  wisest  and  best  possible ;  a  result  which 
if  we  could  see  the  end  from  the  beginning,  would  call  forth 
our  highest  praise.  O,  slow  of  heart  to  believe  and  trust  in 
the  constant  presence  and  overruling  agency  of  our  own 
almighty  Saviour." 


242  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

The  next  morning  they  resolved,  on  the  strength  of 
the  slight  encouragement  contained  in  the  minister's 
words,  to  make  one  more  effort.  Through  their  kind 
English  friend,  Mr.  G.,  they  inquired  the  opinion  of 
this  great  dignitary,  whether  a  longer  stay  in  Ava 
would  be  likely  to  promote  their  object.  He  answered 
explicitly,  that  there  was  no  chance  for  them,  should 
they  wait  ever  so  long.  "Therefore,"  concluded  the 
great  man,  "  let  them  go  about  their  business."  But 
Mr.  Judson  could  not  yet  give  up  all  hope.  Taking 
out  the  tract  which  the  emperor  had  cast  aside  so  con- 
temptuously, he  handed  it  to  Mr.  G.,  with  the  words  : 
"  This  is  a  brief  view  of  the  Christian  religion.  Do 
you  present  it  to  Moung  Zah,  in  our  name,  or  persuade 
him  to  read  it  or  hear  it  read.  We  have,  indeed,  no 
hope  of  its  efficacy  ;  but  it  is  our  last  resort,  and  God 
may  help  us  in  the  extremity."  The  tract  was  received 
kindly,  and  listened  to  even  with  approbation ;  but 
nothing  further  ensued  from  the  attempt.  Mr.  G.  was 
then  summoned  to  the  royal  presence,  and  questioned 
respecting  these  foreign  "  religion-makers."  His  ma- 
jesty was  evidently  much  prejudiced  against  them,  but 
disposed  rather  to  be  amused  than  angry  at  their  pro- 
ject. "  What !  "  said  he,  laughing,  "  they  have  come, 
presuming  to  convert  us  to  their  religion  ?  Let  them 
leave  our  capital.     We  have  no  desire  to  receive  their 


VISIT    TO    TIIE    EMPEROR.  243 

instructions.  Perhaps  they  may  find  some  of  their 
countrymen,  in  Rangoon,  who  may  be  willing  to  listen 
to  them." 

It  soon  appeared  that  this  imperial  order  was  one 
more  easily  given  than  obeyed.  From  the  1st  to  the 
5th  of  February,  Mr.  Judson  was  laboring  incessantly 
to  obtain  a  passport  for  Rangoon,  but  without  success. 
After  being  referred  from  one  dignitary  to  another,  and 
made  to  believe,  at  one  time,  that  it  would  be  necessary 
in  their  case  to  procure  a  special  permit  from  the  high 
court  of  the  empire,  the  difficulty  was  at  length  solved, 
by  a  present,  about  thirty  dollars  in  value,  to  the  min- 
ister of  state,  Moung  Zah.  On  the  5th  of  the  month, 
"  late  in  the  evening,"  he  writes,  "  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  taking  in  my  hand  the  pointed  palm-leaf."  Their 
departure,  the  day  following,  is  recorded  in  character- 
istic words  :  "  Pushed  off  from  the  beach  of  O-ding- 
man.  I  could  moralize  half  an  hour  on  the  apt  resem- 
blance, the  beautiful  congruity,  between  the  desolate 
state  of  our  feelings,  and  the  sandy,  barren  surface  of 
this  miserable  beach.  But,  ''tis  idle  all.'  Let  the 
beach  and  our  sorrow  go  together.  Something  better 
will  turn  up  to-morFOw." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE   NATIVE    CHURCH. 

"  Ye  are  our  epistles — known  and  read  of  all  men." 

^The  last  expedient  had  now  been  tried,  for  retriev- 
ing the  gloomy  circumstances  of  the  mission,  and  it 
seemed  to  the  missionaries  that  nothing  was  left  for 
them  but  to  obey  the  Saviour's  direction  :  "  When 
they  persecute  you  in  one  city,  flee  ye  to  another." 
Could  they  have  hoped  for  hearers,  they  would  have 
fearlessly  resolved  to  continue  the  proclamation  of  the 
gospel,  notwithstanding  the  frowns  of  the  emperor. 
But  that  universal  dread  of  the  displeasure  of  the  royal 
slaveholder,  which  had  previously  cast  such  a  deathlike 
chill  on  the  spirit  of  inquiry,  allowed  no  ground  for  any 
such  expectation.  They  dared  not  count  on  the  con- 
stancy even  of  those  hopeful  converts,  who,  under  less 
imminent  hazards,  had  made  profession  of  their  faith 
in  Christ.    "  We  thought,"  says  Mr.  Judson,  "  that  if  but 


THE   NATIVE    CHURCH.  245 

one  out  of  the  three  *  remained  firm,  it  was  as  much  as 
we  could  reasonably  hope  for."  They  concluded,  there- 
fore, to  withdraw  for  the  present  from  the  immediate 
notice  of  government,  and  wait  and  watch  for  happier 
times.  They  selected,  as  their  place  of  refuge,  that  dis- 
trict of  Arracan  which  Mr.  Judson  had  attempted  to 
visit  in  1818.  Its  proximity  to  Burmah,  while  yet, 
as  a  dependency  of  Bengal,  it  took  them  out  of  the 
reach  of  Burman  power ;  the  similarity  of  language  ; 
and  finally,  the  little  nucleus  of  native  Christians 
already  gathered  there,  naturally  pointed  this  out  as 
the  most  favorable  spot  These  circumstances,  it  was 
hoped,  moreover,  might  induce  all,  or  a  part  of  the 
converts,  to  accompany  them  thither,  thus  preserving 
the  germ  of  a  Burman  church,  V)  be  by  and  by  re- 
transplanted  to  its  native  soil.  It  was  with  this  plan 
in  mind,  as  their  only  resource,  that  the  missionaries 
now  turned  their  faces  towards  Rangoon. 

But  this  "sifting  time"  of  the  little  church  was  des- 
tined to  a  happier  issue.  Even  before  they  reached 
Rangoon,  their  hearts  were  cheered  by  tokens  that  God 
had  not  forsaken  the  mission ;  and  they  began  faintly 
to  hope,  that  something  better  than  flight  might  be  in 
store  for  them.  At  Pyee,  two  hundred  and  thirty  miles 
from  Ava,  they  met  most  unexpectedly  with  the  teacher, 

•  Moung  Nnu,  the  first  disciple,  bad  gone  with  them  to  Ava. 


246  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

Moung  Shwa-gnong,  who  had  come  thither  to  visit  a 
sick  friend.  The  interview  is  thus  described  in  the 
Journal. 

"  We  stated  to  him  all  our  adventures  at  court,  the  dis- 
tressing result  of  the  expedition,  and  the  present  danger  of 
propagating  or  professing  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  wound 
off  with  the  story  of  the  iron  mall.*  He  appeared  to  he  less 
affected  and  intimidated  by  the  relation  than  we  could  have 
expected.    Indeed,  his  language  was  rather  too  high  for  the 

*  Related  to  Mr.  Judson,  by  an  English  gentleman  at  Ava,  as  fol- 
lows :  "  About  fifteen  years  ago,  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  con- 
verted to  their  faith  a  Burman  teacher  of  talents  and  distinction. 
They  took  great  pains  to  indoctrinate  him  thoroughly  in  their  relig- 
ion, and  entertained  great  hope  of  his  usefulness  in  their  cause. 
After  his  return  from  Rome,  whither  they  had  sent  him  to  complete 
his  Christian  education,  he  was  accused  by  his  nephew,  a  clerk  in 
the  high  court  of  the  empire,  of  having  renounced  the  established 
religion.  The  emperor,  who,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  far  from 
approving  the  religion  of  Buddh,  ordered  that  he  should  be  compelled 
to  recant.  The  nephew  seized  his  uncle,  cast  him  into  prison  and 
fetters,  caused  him  to  be  beaten  and  tortured  continually,  and  at 
length  had  recourse  to  the  torture  of  the  iron  mall.  With  this  in- 
strument he  was  gradually  beaten,  from  the  ends  of  his  feet  up  to 
his  breast,  until  his  body  was  little  else  but  one  livid  wound.  Mr. 
R.  was  one  of  those  that  stood  by  and  gave  money  to  the  execution- 
ers, to  induce  them  to  strike  gently.  At  every  blow,  the  sufferer  pro- 
nounced the  name  of  Christ,  and  declared  afterwards  that  he  felt 
little  or  no  pain.  When  he  was  at  the  point  of  death,  under  the 
hands  of  his  tormentors,  some  persons  who  pitied  his  case  went  to 
the  emperor  with  the  statement  that  he  was  a  madman,  and  knew 
not  what  he  was  about;  on  which  the  emperor  gave  orders  for  his  re- 
lease. The  Portuguese  took  him  away,  concealed  him  until  he  was 
able  to  move,  then  sent  him  privately  in  a  boat  to  Rangoon,  and  thence 
by  ship  to  Bengal,  where  he  finished  his  days."  This  very  man,  who 
accused  his  uncle,  was  now  one  of  the  highest  ministers  of  state. 


THE  NATIVE    CHUECH.  247 

occasion.  I  therefore  told  him  that  it  was  not  for  him  that 
we  were  concerned,  but  for  those  who  had  become  disciples 
of  Christ.  When  they  were  accused  and  persecuted,  they 
could  not  worship  at  the  pagodas,  or  recant  before  the  Man- 
gen  teacher.  He  felt  the  force  of  the  reflection,  and  tried  to 
explain  his  past  conduct  •  Say  nothing,'  said  I ;  ■  one  thing 
you  know  to  be  true  —  that,  when  formerly  accused,  if  you 
had  not,  in  some  way  or  other,  satisfied  the  mind  of  the  Man- 
gen  teacher,  your  life  would  not  now  be  remaining  in  your 
body.'  '  Then,'  said  he,  ■  if  I  must  die,  I  shall  die  in  a  good 
cause.  I  know  it  is  the  cause  of  truth.'  He  then  repeated, 
with  considerable  emphasis,  the  most  prominent  points  of  his 
present  faith,  as  follows  :  '  /  believe  in  the  eternal  God,  in  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  atonement  which  Christ  has  made,  and 
in  the  writings  of  the  apostles,  as  the  true  and  only  word  of 
God.  Perhaps,'  continued  he, 4  you  may  not  remember  that, 
during  one  of  my  last  visits,  you  told  me  that  I  was  trusting 
in  my  own  understanding  rather  than  the  divine  word. 
From  that  time  I  have  seen  my  error,  and  endeavored  to  re- 
nounce it.  You  explained  to  me  also  the  evil  of  worshipping 
at  pagodas,  though  I  told  you  that  my  heart  did  not  partake 
in  tlu-  worship.  Since  you  left  Rangoon,  I  have  not  lifted 
up  my  folded  hands  before  a  pagoda.  It  is  true,  I  sometimes 
follow  the  crowd,  on  days  of  worship,  in  order  to  avoid  per- 
secution ;  but  I  walk  up  one  side  of  the  pagoda,  and  walk 
down  the  other.  Now,  you  say  that  I  am  not  a  disciple. 
What  lack  I  yet  ? '  I  was  now  satisfied  that  he  had  made 
a  little  advance,  since  our  last  interview,  which  required  a 
corresponding  advance  on  my  side.  I  replied,  therefore, 
4  Teacher,  you  may  be  a  disciple  of  Christ  in  heart,  but  you 
are  not  a  full  disciple.  You  have  not  faith  and  resolution 
enough  to  keep  all  the  commands  of  Christ,  particularly  that 
which  requires  you  to  be  baptized,  though  in  the  face  of  per- 
secution and  death.     Consider  the  words  of  Jesus,  just  be- 


THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

fore  he  returned  to  heaven,  "  He  that  believeth  and  is  bap- 
tized shall  be  saved."'  He  received  this  communication  in 
profound  silence,  and  with  that  air  which  I  have  observed  to 
come  upon  him  when  he  takes  a  thing  into  serious  considera- 
tion. Soon  after,  I  hinted  our  intention  of  leaving  Rangoon, 
since  the  emperor  had  virtually  prohibited  the  propagation 
of  the  Christian  religion,  and  no  Burman,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, would  dare  to  investigate,  much  less  to  embrace 
it.  This  intelligence  evidently  roused  him,  and  showed  us 
that  we  had  more  interest  in  his  heart  than  we  thought. 
1  Say  not  so,'  said  he  ;  'there  are  some  who  will  investigate, 
notwithstanding ;  and  rather  than  have  you  quit  Rangoon,  I 
will  go  myself  to  the  Mangen  teacher,  and  have  a  public  dis- 
pute. I  know  T  can  silence  him.  I  know  the  truth  is  on  my 
side.'  'Ah,'  said  I, '  you  may  have  a  tongue  to  silence  him, 
but  he  has  a  pair  of  fetters  and  an  iron  mall  to  tame  you?" 
Remember  that.'  This  was  the  substance  of  our  conversa- 
tion, though  much  more  prolix ;  and  he  left  us  about  nine 
o'clock  at  night. 

"  This  interview  furnished  matter  for  conversation  till  past 
midnight,  and  kept  us  awake  much  of  the  remainder  of  i he 
night.  Perhaps,  on  arriving  in  Rangoon,  we  shall  find  the 
disciples  firm,  and  some  others  seriously  inquiring.  Perhaps 
we  shall  discover  some  appearances  of  a  movement  of  the 
divine  Spirit.  Perhaps  the  Lord  Jesus  has  a  few  chosen 
ones,  whom  he  intends  to  call  in,  under  the  most  unpropitious 
and  forbidding  circumstances.  Perhaps  he  intends  to  show 
that  it  is  not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  his  Spirit.  In 
a  word,  perhaps,  in  the  last  extremity,  God  will  help  us. 
Ought  we,  then,  hastily  to  forsake  the  place  ?  Ought  we  to 
desert  those  of  the  disciples  that  we  cannot  take  with  us,  and 
some  others,  for  whom  perhaps  Christ  died,  in  such  an  inter- 
esting crisis  of  their  fate  ?  Would  it  be  rashness  to  endeavor 
to  trust  in  God,  and  maintain  the  post,  though  disallowed  by 


THE   NATIVE    CHURCH.  249 

government,  and  exposed  to  persecution  ?  But  again  :  can 
we  bear  to  see  our  dear  disciples  in  prison,  in  fetters,  under 
torture  ?  Can  we  stand  by  them,  and  encourage  them  to 
bear  patiently  the  rage  of  their  persecutors  ?  Are  we  will- 
ing to  participate  with  them  ?  Though  the  spirit  may  be 
sometimes  almost  willing,  is  not  the  flesh  too  weak  ? 

"  Pondering  on  such  topics  as  these,  a  little  ray  of  hope 
seemed  to  shine  out  of  the  darkness  of  our  despair.  But  it 
was  not  like  the  soft  beam  of  the  moon,  which  kindly  shines 
on  the  path  of  the  benighted  pilgrim,  and  guides  him  to  a 
place  of  shelter.  It  was  rather  like  the  angry  gleam  of  light- 
ning, which,  while  for  a  moment  it  illumines  the  landscape 
around,  discloses  the  black  magazines  of  heaven's  artillery, 
and  threatens  death  to  the  unwary  gazer." 


On  arriving  at  Rangoon,  they  called  together  the 
same  evening  the  three  disciples,  and  laid  before  them 
a  full  account  of  the  occurrences  at  the  capital,  in  order 
that  they  might  fully  understand  both  their  own  dan- 
ger, and  the  reasons  which  had  induced  their  teachers 
to  think  of  quitting  Rangoon.  And  now,  a  beautiful 
scene  was  witnessed.  Instead  of  being  struck  with 
terror  at  the  prospect  of  impending  persecution,  these 
infant  converts,  just  rescued  from  heathenism,  gathered 
round  their  experienced  teachers,  and  sustained  their 
hearts  by  their  own  Christian  constancy  and  faith. 
"  All,  to  a  man,"  writes  Mr.  Judson,  "  appeared  im- 
movably the  same  ;  yea,  rather  advanced  in  zeal  and 
energy.     They  vied  with  each  other  in  trying  to  ex- 


250  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

plain  away  difficulties,  and  to  convince  us  that  the  case 
was  not  yet  quite  desperate."  Still,  however,  the  mis- 
sionaries deemed  it  prudent  to  retire  to  Chittagong  till 
their  repulse  at  court  should  be  a  little  forgotten,  and, 
for  several  days,  continued  their  inquiries  for  vessels 
sailing  thither.  On  the  evening  of  the  24th,  an  affect- 
ing scene  occurred,  which  is  thus  related  in  the  Jour- 
nal :  — 

"  This  evening,  Moung  Bya  came  up  with  his  brother-in- 
law,  Moung  Myat-yah,  who  has  lived  in  our  yard  several 
months, "and  formerly  attended  worship  at  the  zayat.  'I 
have  come,'  said  Moung  Bya,  '  to  petition  that  you  will  not 
leave  Rangoon  at  present'  •  I  think/  replied  I,  '  that  it  is 
useless  to  remain  under  present  circumstances.  We  cannot 
open  the  zayat ;  we  cannot  have  public  worship  ;  no  Burman 
will  dare  to  examine  this  religion  :  and  if  none  examine,  none 
can  be  expected  to  embrace  it.'  i  Teacher,'  said  he,  •  my 
mind  is  distressed ;  I  can  neither  eat  nor  sleep,  since  I  find 
you  are  going  away.  I  have  been  around  among  those  avIio 
live  near  us,  and  I  find  some  who  are  even  now  examining  the 
new  religion.  Brother  Myat-yah  is  one  of  them,  and  he 
unites  with  me  in  my  petitions.'  Here  Myat-yah  assented 
that  it  was  so.  '  Do  stay  with  us  a  few  months.  Do  stay  till 
there  are  eight  or  ten  disciples ;  then  appoint  one  to  be  the 
teacher  of  the  rest ;  I  shall  not  be  concerned  about  the  event ; 
though  you  should  leave  the  country,  the  religion  will  spread 
of  itself;  the  emperor  himself  cannot  stop  it.  But  if  you  go 
now,  and  take  the  two  disciples  that  can  follow,  I  shall  be  left 
alone.  I  cannot  baptize  those  who  may  wish  to  embrace  this 
religion.  What  can  I  do  ? '  Moung  Nau  came  in,  and  ex- 
pressed himself  in  a  similar  way.    He  thought  that  several 


THE    NATIVE    CHURCH.  251 

would  yet  become  disciples,  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  and  that 
it  was  best  for  us  to  stay  awhile.  We  could  not  restrain  our 
tears  at  hearing  all  this ;  and  we  told  them  that  as  we  lived 
only  for  the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  Christ  among  the 
Burmans,  if  there  was  any  prospect  of  success  in  Rangoon, 
we  had  no  desire  to  go  to  another  place,  and  would,  therefore, 
reconsider  the  matter." 

The  usual  hour  of  worship,  next  evening,  brought  not 
only  the  disciples  together,  but  two  inquirers.  The  for- 
mer manifested  a  spirit  worthy  of  the  noblest  times  of  the 
Christian  church.  "  Teacher,"  said  Moung  Thalah,  at 
the  close  of  worship,  "  your  intention  of  going  away  has 
filled  us  all  with  trouble.  Is  it  good  to  forsake  us  thus  ? 
Notwithstanding  present  difficulties,  it  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  this  work  is  not  yours  or  ours,  but  the  work 
of  God.  If  he  gives  light,  the  religion  will  spread. 
Nothing  can  impede  it."  Just  then  a  third  inquirer 
was  found  listening  without,  and  was  invited  in  to  take 
his  seat  with  the  others.  "Moung  Bya,"  says  Mr. 
Jud^on,  "  now  began  to  be  in  earnest ;  his  arm  was 
elevated,  and  his  eyes  brightened.  'Let  us  all,'  said 
he,  '  make  an  effort.  As  for  me,  I  will  pray.  Only 
leave  a  little  church  of  ten,  with  a  teacher  set  over 
them,  and  I  shall  be  satisfied.' " 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  missionaries  felt  it  to 
be  impossible  for  them  all  to  leave  Rangoon.  Yet  as 
it  seemed  very  important  to  secure  a  place  of  retreat, 


252  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

should  the  expected  storm  burst  upon  them,  it  was  con- 
cluded that  Mr.  Colman  should  proceed  to  Chittagong, 
and  collect  the  native  converts  into  a  new  station ; 
while  Mr.  Judson  was  to  remain  at  Rangoon,  till  such 
a  time  as  the  violence  of  persecution  "  should  suppress 
all  inquiry,  and  make  it  useless  and  rash  to  remain." 
But  this  emergency,  in  the  good  providence  of  God,  was 
not  permitted  to  arise.  Some  unseen  agency  silently 
drew  off  the  dark  thundercloud,  so  that  not  a  hair 
of  their  heads  was  injured.  The  return,  at  this  crisis, 
of  Mr.  Judson's  personal  friend,  Mya-day-men,  to  the 
viceroyship  of  the  province  of  Rangoon,  seemed  a  most 
providential  occurrence.  Without  any  countenance, 
or  indeed  recognition  of  the  mission,  on  his  part,  which 
could  compromise  himself,  it  soon  came  to  be  understood 
that  complaints  against  the  disciples  were  not  likely  to 
receive  much  attention  from  his  highness  ;  and  this  was, 
of  itself,  no  small  check  to  the  spirit  of  persecution. 
Still,  the  necessity  was  felt  of  extreme  caution,  to  avoid 
every  thing  which  might  unnecessarily  provoke  the  sub- 
ordinate officers  of  government,  and  through  them  reach 
the  imperial  court.  Public  worship  was  held  in  the 
interior  of  the  zayat  with  closed  doors,  and  great  care 
was  used  not  to  betray  inquirers.  By  this  means, 
Mr.  Judson,  now  the  only  missionary  on  the  ground, 
was  enabled  to  continue  his  labors  without  interruption, 


THE    NATIVE    CHURCH.  253 

and  the  blessing  of  Heaven  descended  on  them  like  the 
gentle  dew  of  heaven  on  the  field. 

"  February  27,  Lord's  day.  Had  private  worship  in  the 
zayat  —  the  front  doors  closed  —  none  present  but  the  dis- 
ciples and  inquirers. 

"  February  28.  A  visit  from  Moung  Shwa-gnong.  He 
had  considered,  he  said,  my  last  words  —  that  one  must  be- 
lieve and  be  baptized  in  order  to  be  a  full  disciple.  It  was 
his  desire  to  be  such,  and  he  wanted  to  know  what  outward 
rules  in  particular  he  must  observe  in  case  he  should  become 
a  professor.  I  told  him  that  the  disciples  of  Christ,  after 
baptism,  were  associated  together ;  that  they  assembled 
every  Lord's  day  for  worship,  and  that  from  time  to  time  they 
received  the  sacrament  of  bread  and  wine.  I  then  warned 
him  of  the  danger  of  self-deception,  and  of  the  persecution 
to  which  disciples  were  exposed  in  this  country,  and  advised 
him  to  reconsider  the  matter  most  thoroughly,  before  he 
made  a  definite  request  for  baptism. 

"After  he  had  gone,  Oo  Yan  (mentioned  December  19) 
came  in ;  was  disappointed  in  not  finding  Moung  Shwa- 
gnong,  having  agreed  to  meet  him  at  the  mission  house.  We 
h;v\  a  long  conversation  on  doctrinal  points,  in  which  he  dis- 
covered a  very  acute,  discriminating  mind. 

"  March  2.  Another  visit  from  Oo  Yan.  Venture  to  in- 
dulge a  little  hope  that  truth  is  beginning  to>  operate  on  his 
mind. 

"  Man-h  5,  Lord's  day.  Private  worship,  as  last  Lord's 
day.  In  the  evening  received  the  sacrament  of  bread  and 
wine.  Moung  Nau  was  not  present,  having  gone  on  a  visit 
to  Bau-lay,  his  native  place.  Had  a  refreshing  and  happy 
season  with  the  two  other  disciples.  Two  of  the  inquirer? 
were  spectators. 


254 


THE    EARNEST    MAN. 


"  March  8.  In  the  evening,  had  a  very  pleasant  and  in- 
structive conference  with  the  disciples  and  inquirers.  Moung 
Thahlah  appeared  to  great  advantage.  Took  the  lead  in 
explaining  truth  to  the  new  ones,  and  quoted  Scripture  with 
singular  facility  and  aptness.  He  has  most  evidently  very 
correct  views  of  the  doctrines  of  grace.  Moung  Myat-yah 
appears  to  begin  to  discern  the  excellence  of  the  Christian 
system,  and  to  have  some  right  feelings  towards  the  Saviour. 

"  March  10.  Moung  Shwa-gnong  and  Oo  Yan  have  been 
with  me  several  hours,  but  the  interview  has  afforded  very 
little  encouragement.  The  former  said  but  little  on  his  own 
account,  appearing  chiefly  desirous  of  convincing  and  per- 
suading his  friend,  that  he  might  gain,  as  I  secretly  suspected, 
some  companion  of  his  own  rank  in  life,  before  he  embraced 
the  new  religion.  The  latter  acted  on  the  defensive,  and 
spent  all  his  time  in  raising  objections.  He  was  ready  to 
admit  that  the  atheistic  system  of  the  Buddhists  was  not 
tenable,  but  endeavored  to  fortify  himself  on  a  middle  system 
between  that  and  the  Christian  —  the  very  system  in  which 
Moung  Shwa-gnong  formerly  rested,  and  which,  for  distinc- 
tion's sake,  may  be  fitly  termed  the  semi-atheistic.  Its  funda- 
mental doctrine  is,  that  divine  wisdom,  not  concentrated  in 
any  existing  spirit,  or  embodied  in  any  form,  but  diffused 
throughout  the  universe,  and  partaken  in  different  degrees 
by  various  intelligences,  and  in  a  very  high  degree  by  the 
Buddhs,  is  the  true  and  only  God.  This  poor  system,  which 
is  evidently  guilty  of  suicide,  Oo  Yan  made  every  possible 
effort  to  keep  alive ;  but  I  really  think  that  in  his  own  mind 
he  felt  the  case  to  be  hopeless.  His  mode  of  reasoning  is, 
however,  soft,  insinuating,  and  acute  ;  and  so  adroitly  did  he 
act  his  part,  that  Moung  Shwa-gnong,  with  his  strong  arm, 
and  I  with  the  strength  of  truth,  were  scarcely  able  to  keep 
him  down. 

"March  13. 


THE   NATIVE    CHURCH.  255 

friends,  came  and  spent  several  hours.  The  former  stayed 
later  than  the  others,  and  attended  evening  worship.  I  asked 
him  whether  there  was  any  point  in  the  Christian  system  on 
which  lie  had  not  obtained  satisfaction.  He  replied  that  he 
was  not  yet  satisfied  as  to  the  propriety  of  God's  appointing 
one  particular  day  in  the  week  for  assembling  together,  in 
distinction  from  all  other  days.  I  saw  at  once  why  he  has 
always  baton  so  remiss  in  attending  worship  on  the  Lord's 
day ;  and  I  therefore  proceeded  to  state  the  nature  of  posi- 
tive commands,  and  their  peculiar  excellence,  as  the  best  test 
of  obedience  ;  that  it  was  evidently  beneficial  for  the  disci- 
ples of  Christ  to  assemble  sometimes ;  that  God,  in  appoint- 
ing that  such  an  assembly  should  be  held  at  least  one  day  in 
seven,  must  be  supposed  to  be  guided  by  wisdom  infinitely 
transcending  that  of  man  ;  that,  if  the  disciples  of  Christ  are 
to  meet  once  at  least  in  seven  days,  it  is  evidently  best  to 
have  the  day  of  neftti&g  designated,  in  order  to  secure  their 
:1  union  and  concert ;  and  that  the  first  day  of  the 
weak  had  at  least  this  claim  to  preference,  that  it  is  the  day 
on  which  our  Saviour  rose  from  the  dead.  I  descanted  on 
these  points  to  his  entire  satisfaction  ;  but  let  us  see  whether 
hv  will  doom  next  Lord's  day. 

"  Later  in  the  evening,  had  an  instructive  conference  with 
Moung  Myat-yah  and  Moung  Shwa  Boo.  They  both  appear 
to  have  obtained  some  of  that  light,  which,  like  the  dawn  of 
morning,  shineth  more  and  more  unto  perfect  day. 

"March  15.  Another  visit  from  the  teacher, accompanied 
with  his  wife  and  child.  Again  discussed  the  necessity  of 
a-'  mbling  on  the  Lord's  day.  Found  that  the  sacraments  of 
baptism  and  the  supper  are,  in  his  mind,  liable  to  similar 
objections.  Forsook,  therefore,  all  human  reasoning,  and 
rested  the  merits  of  the  case  on  the  bare  authority  of  Christ. 
4  Ye  are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  you.' 
Notwithstanding  the  remains  of  his  deistical  spirit,  however, 


256  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

I  obtained,  during  this  visit,  more  satisfactory  evidence  of  his 
real  conversion,  than  ever  before.  He  said  that  he  knew 
nothing  of  an  eternally  existing  God,  before  he  met  with  me ; 
that,  on  hearing  that  doctrine,  he  instantly  believed  it,  but 
that  it  was  a  long  time  before  he  closed  with  Christ.  '  Can 
you  recollect  the  time  ? '  said  I.  '  Not  precisely,'  he  replied, 
4  but  it  was  during  a  visit,  when  you  discoursed  concerning 
the  Trinity,  the  divine  worship  of  Jesus,  and  the  great  suf- 
ferings which  he,  though  truly  God,  endured  for  his  disci- 
ples.' He  afterwards  spoke,  with  much  Christian  feeling,  on 
the  preciousness  of  the  last  part  of  the  sixth  chapter  of  Mat- 
thew, which  he  heard  me  read  day  before  yesterday,  at  even- 
ing ^worship. 

"March  19,  Lord's  day.  Looked  in  vain  for  the  teacher 
and  his  acquaintances. 

"March  21.  Moung  Thahlah  introduced  one  of  his  rela- 
tions, by  name  Moung  Shwa-ba,  as  desirous  of  considering 
the  Christian  religion.  Spent  an  hour  or  two  in  conversing 
with  him.  He  was  afterwards  present  at  evening  worship, 
and  stayed  to  converse  after  the  rest  had  retired. 

"  March  22.  Another  conversation  with  Moung  Shwa-ba. 
He  appears  to  be  under  deep  religious  impressions.  His  lan- 
guage and  his  looks  evince  an  uncommon  solemnity  of  spirit, 
an  earnest  desire  to  be  saved  from  the  wrath  to  come.  After 
praying  with  him,  I  left  him  in  company  with  Moung  Thah- 
lah. 

"  March  23.  In  the  morning,  Moung  Thahlah  informed 
me  that  he  and  his  friend  had  sat  up  the  greater  part  of  the 
night  in  the  zayat,  reading,  and  conversing,  and  praying. 
In  the  afternoon,  Moung  Shwa-ba  came  in  himself.  His  ex- 
pressions are  very  strong ;  but  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  his 
sincerity.  It  only  seems  strange  to  us  that  a  work  of  grace 
should  be  carried  on  so  rapidly  in  the  soul  of  an  ignorant 
heathen.    He  presented  a  writing,  containing  a  statement  of 


THE   NATIVE    CHURCH.  257 

his  faith,  and  an  urgent  request  to  be  baptized  next  Lord's 
day. 

"  March  24.  Spent  all  the  evening  with  Moung  Shwa-ba. 
Feel  satisfied  that  he  has  experienced  a  work  of  divine 
grace,  but  think  it  advisable  to  defer  his  baptism  till  Sunday 
after  next,  in  order  to  allow  him  full  time  to  reexamine  the 
religion,  and  the  foundation  of  his  hopes. 

•  March  26,  Lord's  day.  Three  women  present  at  wor- 
ship, acquaintances  of  Moung  Shwa-gnong.  They  have  vis- 
its! Mrs.  Judson  once  or  twice  before.  The  principal  of 
thtin  renounced  Gaudama  some  years  ago,  and  adopted  the 
semi-atheistic  system,  but  without  obtaining  any  real  satis- 
la<  lion.  Two  years  ago,  she  met  with  a  copy  of  the  tract, 
which  gave  her  an  idea  of  an  eternally-existing  God ;  but 
the  knew  not  whence  the  paper  came.  At  length,  Moung 
Shwa-gnong  told  her  that  he  had  found  the  true  wisdom,  and 
directed  her  to  us.     Her  case  appears  very  hopeful. 

"In  the  evening,  after  worship,  had  a  protracted  conver- 
sation with  the  diaoiplei  and  Inquirers,  on  account  of  brother 
Colman'a  intended  departure  to-morrow.  Moung  Shwa-ba 
appeared  very  well  indeed.  Mount:  Myat-yah  said:  'Set 
me  down  for  a  disciple.  I  have  fully  made  up  my  mind  in 
regard  to  this  religion,  I  love  Jesus  Christ;  but  I  am  not 
yet  quite  ready  for  baptism.'  After  we  dismissed  them,  they 
wnit  over  to  the  zayat  of  their  own  accord,  and  held  a 
prayer  meeting. 

M  And  here  I  must  close  my  journal.  We  have  spent  the 
ning  with  our  very  dear  brother  and  sister  Colman. 
!  to  embark  to-morrow  morning.  Our  parting  is 
mournful ;  for  happy,  uncommonly  happy,  has  been  our  past 
intercourse.  Nothing  but  a  sense  of  duty  could  force  the 
present  separation.  We  hope  that  it  will  be  of  short  du- 
ration, and  that  we  shall  soon  reunite  our  labors  in  Chitta- 
gong  or  Rangoon. 


258  THE    EARNEST    MAX. 

"  On  their  departure,  Mrs.  Judson  and  myself  will  again 
be  left  to  our  former  '  loneliness  of  lot.'  In  this  situation, 
we  renewedly  commend  ourselves  to  the  remembrance  and 
prayers  of  the  Board. 

"March  27.  Brother  and  sister  Colman  took  leave  of  us, 
and  embarked  for  Bengal. 

"  April  1.  In  the  evening,  we  had  a  final  conversation 
with  Moung  Shwa-ba,  and  became  fully  satisfied  with  the 
evidences  of  his  conversion.  We  therefore  expressed  our 
willingness  to  receive  him  into  church  fellowship,  and  I  an- 
nounced to  him  my  intention  of  baptizing  him  to-morrow,  on 
which  he  expressed  his  gratitude  and  joy. 

"  .April  2,  Lord's  day.  At  night,  after  dark,  we  went  pri- 
vately to  the  accustomed  pond,  and  baptized  the  new  disci- 
ple. Afterwards  sat  down  at  the  table  of  the  Lord  —  two 
foreign  and  four  native  communicants.  Three  inquirers 
were  admitted  to  be  spectators. 

"  April  11.  A  visit  from  Oo  Yan,  accompanied  by  two 
of  his  friends  who  have  been  here  before.  Long  conversa- 
tion on  topics  of  the  Christian  religion. 

"  April  14.  The  women  mentioned  March  26,  spent  most 
of  the  day  with  Mrs.  Judson.  They  regularly  visit  her  about 
once  a  week.  I  mention  the  visit  of  to-day,  because  it  has 
afforded  pretty  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  principal  one 
of  the  company,  by  name  Mah  Men-la,  has  experienced 
divine  grace.  Her  husband  is  one  of  the  visitors,  who  came 
with  Oo  Yan,  on  the  11th. 

"  April  15.  Moung  Shwa-ba  has  for  some  days  been  talk- 
ing of  a  visit  to  Shwa-doung,  his  native  place,  to  communi- 
cate the  treasure  which  he  has  found  to  his  numerous  rela- 
tions and  friends.  This  evening,  after  expressing  his  desires, 
he  said  it  had  occurred  to  him  that  it  might  be  proper  to  ask 
permission  or  license  so  to  do.  Not  that  he  aspired  to  set  up 
as  a  teacher ;  far  from  that ;  but  he  wanted  to  feel  that,  in 


THE   NATIVE    CHURCH.  259 

communicating  the  gospel,  he  was  proceeding  in  a  regular 
authorized  manner.  He  thought  that,  if  two  or  three  disci- 
ples could  be  raised  up  in  each  of  the  large  towns,  it  would 
much  facilitate  our  operations.  He  was  sure  that  at  least 
one  in  tenx>f  his  relations  and  friends,  on  hearing  his  story, 
could  not  help  embracing  the  new  religion.  I  secretly  ex- 
ulted at  hearing  his  proposal,  so  evidently  the  result  of 
Christian  principle,  and  exhorted  him  to  constant  self-exami- 
nation and  prayer,  as  the  means  of  discovering  his  own  duty 
and  the  divine  will. 

44  April  16,  Lord's  day.  Early  in  the  morning  the  teacher, 
Moung  Shwa-gnong,  came  in,  after  an  absence  of  just  a 
month.  H.e  was  soon  followed  by  Oo  Yan  and  his  two 
friends.  They  spent  the  whole  day  with  me.  All  appear 
hopeful.  The  teacher  remained,  as  usual,  after  the  others 
had  left,  and  thereby  afforded  me  an  opportunity  for  private 
conversation.  He  admitted  that  all  his  objections  to  positive 
commands  were  removed,  and  that  it  was  his  desire  to  be  a 
full  <liscij)K' ;  but,  when  urged  closely  on  the  subject,  he  inti- 
mated that  his  wife  and  friends  were  opposed  to  his  taking 
any  decided  step,  and  that,  if  he  did,  he  was,  moreover,  ex- 
posed to  imminent  danger  of  persecution  and  death.  He 
mentioned  these  things  with  so  much  feeling,  and  such  evi- 
"onsciousness  of  simple  weakness,  as  completely  dis- 
annul me.  My  heart  was  wrung  with  pity.  I  sincerely 
.sympathized  with  him  in  his  evident  mental  trials.  I  could 
not  deny  the  truth  of  what  he  said,  but  gently  hinted,  as  thy 
thy  strength  shall  be,  and  proposed  the  example  of 
the  apostles  and  martyrs,  the  glory  of  suffering  for  Christ, 
&c.  But  the  thought  of  the  iron  mall,  and  a  secret  sus- 
pieion  that,  if  I  was  in  his  circumstances,  I  should  perhaps 
h;i\e  no  more  courage,  restrained  my  tongue.  We  parted 
with  much  solemnity,  understanding  one  another  better  than 
ever  before.     I  shall  not  probably  see  him  again  very  soon ; 


260  THE    EARNEST    MAN.  m 

for  it  is  too  dangerous  for  a  man  of  his  distinction  to  be  seen 
coming  frequently  to  the  mission  house. 

"  April  20.  Mah  Men-la  and  her  friends  have  been  with 
Mrs.  Judson  all  day.  She  gives  increasing  evidence  of  being 
a  real  disciple,  but  is.  extremely  timid,  through  fear  of  per- 
secution. One  of  her  remarks  deserves  notice,  as  a  natural 
expression  of  true  Christian  feeling.  'I  am  surprised,'  said 
she,  'to  find  this  religion  has  such  an  effect  on  my  mind  as 
to  make  me  love  the  disciples  of  Christ  more  than  my  dearest 
natural  relations.'  She  is  a  woman  of  very  superior  discern- 
ment and  mental  energy.  One  of  the  women,  who  has  fre- 
quently accompanied  her  in  her  visits,  met  with  a  tract  at  Old 
Pegu  about  six  weeks  ago,  and  came  all  the  way  to  Rangoon, 
chiefly,  she  says,  on  that  account. 

"  This  day  I  have  finished  the  translation  of  the  Epistle,  to 
the  Ephesians,  begun  before  I  went  to  Ava,  but  intermitted 
on  account  of  the  weakness  of  my  eyes.  It  is  with  real  joy 
that  I  put.  this  precious  writing  into  the  hands  of  the  disciples. 
It  is  a  great  accession  to  their  scanty  stock  of  Scripture ;  for 
they  have  had  nothing  hitherto  but  Matthew.  Intend  to  give 
them  Acts  as  fast  as  my  own  eyes  will  allow. 

"April  30,  Lord's  day.  One  of  the  busiest  days  I  have 
ever  spent.  Not  a  multitude  of  visitants,  as  formerly.  That 
we  cannot  expect  in  present  circumstances.  But,  besides  the 
usual  evening  assembly,  there  were  eight  or  ten  present  at 
worship,  some  of  whom  were  with  me  from  nine  "in  the  morn- 
ing till  ten  at  night.  Mah  Men-la  and  her  company  were 
with  Mrs.  Judson,  who,  by  the  way,  has  had  a  serious  attack 
i  of  the  liver  complaint  for  a  fortnight  past,  and  is  now  in  a 
course  of  salivation. 

"  Oo  Yan,  after  having  searched  out  all  the  difficult  points 
of  religion,  came  to-day  to  the  ne  plus  ultra.  How  are  sin 
and  eternal  misery  reconcilable  with  the  character  of  an  in- 
finitely holy,  wise,  and  powerful  God  ?     He  at  length  ob- 


THE    NATIVE    CHURCH.  261 

tained  such  satisfaction  that  he  could  not  restrain  laughin 


si 


fro:n  pure  mental  delight,  and  kept  recurring;  to  the  subject, 
and  repeating  my  remarks  to  those  around  him.  He  was 
accompanied,  as  usual,  by  his  two  friends,  Moung  Thah-a  and 
Mourn:  Myat-lah,  husband  of  Mali  Men-la.  With  these  came 
also  one  Moiing  Yo,  a  disciple  of  Moung  Shwa-gnong,  a  poor 
man,  but  a  sharp  reasoner.  He  was  or  pretended  to  be,  on 
the  semi-atheistic  plan.  (See  March  10.)  After  ascertain- 
ing hi*  precise  ground,  I  used  an  argument  which,  in  a  late 
combat  with  Oo  Yan,  I  found  quite  invincible.  It  is  simply 
this:  '•  \o  mind,  no  wisdom;  temporary  mind,  temporary 
wisdom ;  eternal  mind,  eternal  wisdom."  Now,  as  all  the 
semi-atheists  firmly  believe  in  eternal  wisdom,  this  concise 
statement  sweeps  with  irresistible  sway  through  the  very 
joints  and  marrow  of  their  system.  And,  though  it  may  seem 
rather  Simple  and  inconclusive  to  one  unacquainted  with 
Burman  reasoning,  its  effect  is  uniformly  decisive.  No  sooner 
is  this  short  sentence  uttered  than  one  significantly  nods  his 
.  4  There,  you  have  it.'  Another  cries  out 
to  the  opponent,  'Yon  are  undone,  destroyed.'  Another 
says,  '  Talk  ationt  Wisdom  !  where  else  will  you  find  it? '  The 
disputant  himself,  who  was  perhaps  preparing  a  learned  speech 
about  the  excellence,  and  efficacy,  and  eternity  of  wisdom, 
quite  disconcerted  by  this  unexpected  onset,  sits  looking  at 
the  wreck  of  his  system,  and  wondering  at  the  simple  means 
which  has  spread  such  ruin  around  him ;  presently  he  looks 
up,  (for  the  Burmans  are  frequently  candid,)  and  says, 
4  Your  words  are  very  appropriate ; '  and  perhaps  his  next 

m  is,  k  How  can  I  become  a  disciple  of  the  God  you 
worship  V  '     All  the  visitors  to-day,  and,  indeed,  all  the  semi- 

-.  are  despisers  of  Gaudama  and  the  established  religion 
of  the  land.  Moung  Shwa-gnong  has  disseminated  this  heresy 
in  ILtngoon  for  several  years;  but  since  he  has  become  ac- 
quainted with  us,  he  frequently  tells  his  adherents,  '  I  know 


262  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

nothing ;  if  you  want  true  wisdom,  go  to  the  foreign  teacher, 
and  there  you  will  find  it.'  I  have  reason  to  believe  that 
this  heresy  is  not  confined  to  Rangoon,  but  is  taking  root  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  and  preparing  the  way  for  the 
Christian  religion.  O  for  toleration  —  a  little  toleration  ! 
We  will  be  content  to  baptize  in  the  night,  and  hold  worship 
in  private  ;  but  we  do  pray  that  we  may  not  be  utterly  ban- 
ished from  the  land ;  that  we  may  not  be  cut  up,  root  and 
branch.  O  that  these  poor  souls,  who  are  groping  in  the 
dark,  feeling  after  the  truth,  may  have  time  and  opportuni- 
ties to  find  the  precious  treasure  which  will  enrich  them  for- 
evermore !  We  are  all  looking  with  anxiety  towards  the 
golden  feet.  Our  viceroy,  Moung  Shwa-thah,  has  gone 
thither  on  a  visit;  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  will  return, 
or  his  rival,  Mya-day-men.  If  the  latter,  there  is  some  rea- 
son to^ope  that  we  shall  keep  footing,  in  Rangoon,  at  least 
during  his  administration. 

u  May  5.  Another  visit  from  Moung  Myat-lah  and  his  wife, 
which  has  afforded  us  good  reason  to  hope  that  he  also 
has  become  a  true  believer.  His  wife  appears  the  same  as 
usual.  They  are  both  gaining  courage  in  regard  to  an  open 
profession  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  begin  to  wonder  at 
the  backwardness  of  their  former  oracle,  Moung  Shwa- 
gnong. 

"  May  8.  Moung-Thah-a,  a  friend  of  Moung  Myat-lah, 
has  spent  most  of  the  day  with  me,  and  given  equally  good 
evidence  of  being  a  true  disciple.  He  was  formerly  an  offi- 
cer under  government,  and  amassed  considerable  property, 
which  he  mostly  spent  in  building  pagodas  and  making  offer- 
ings. But  he  obtained  no  satisfaction,  found  no  resting-place 
for  his  soul,  until  he  became  acquainted  with  the  religion  of 
Jesus.  He  now  rests  in  this  religion,  with  conscious  security  ; 
believes  and  loves  all  that  he  hears  of  it,  and  prays  that  he 
may  become  fully  a  true  disciple  of  the  Saviour. 


THE    NATIVE    CHDRCH.  263 

"  Both  of  these  men  are  respectable  householders,  rather 
above  the  middling  class.  They  live  in  a  little  village  called 
Nan-dau-gong,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  mission  house. 
Moung  Myat-lah  has  a  large  family;  but  Moung  Thah-a  lias 
none,  and  were  it  not  for  an  aged  mother  who  depends  on  him, 
he  would  follow  me,  he  says,  throughout  the  world. 

"  May  12.  The  three  visitors  from  Nan-dau-gong  have 
been  with  us  part  of  the  day.  One  characteristic  trait  in 
topic  is  a  particular  love  for  the  Scriptures.  They 
almost  quarrel  with  one  another  for  the  only  copy  of  the 
Ephesians  which  I  have  given  them,  and  I  therefore  deter- 
mine to  spare  them  another  as  soon  as  it  is  done.  They  say 
that  the  translation  of  this  Epistle  is  plainer,  and  more  easily 
itodd,  than  that  of  Matthew,  which  is  very  encouraging 
to  me,  as  I  made  it  without  the  assistance  of  any  person,  not 
even  a  Iiurman  teacher.  My  old  teacher  went  to  Ava  some 
months  ago,  and  I  am  now  afraid  to  employ  another,  lest  he 
should  become  too  well  acquainted  with  the  disciples  and 
inquirers,  and  betray  them  to  government. 

•  May  11.  Lord's  day.     A  very  busy  day  with  the  Nan- 
dau-gong  visitors,  and  the  usual  evening  assembly. 

"  May  18.  Mali  Mvat-lah  and  Mah  Doke,  who  have  fre- 
quently ae.onipanied  their  relation,  Mah  Men-la,  came  to-day 
by  th.niM'lves.  They  appear  to  be  under  solemn  religious 
impressions,  sensible  of  their  sin  and  danger,  and  anxious  to 
obtain  an  interest  in  the  Saviour,  but  are  yet  unenlightened 
ml  t.»  the  way.  Mali  liailc,  also,  sister  of  Moung 
Thai  ah,  who  formerly  afforded  us  some  encouragement,  but 
afterwards  fell  off,  has  recommenced  visiting  us.  We  hope 
that  during  several  months'  confinement  she  has  not  in  vain 
meditated  OH  the  truths  she  formerly  heard.  She  says  that 
her  mind  is  changed,  that  she  loves  the  Saviour,  and  trusts 
in  him  alone  tor  salvation  from  sin  and  hell,  and  desires  to 
become  his  disciple  in  full  by  receiving  baptism.     Her  hus- 


264  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

band,  Moung  Nyo-dwa,  and  Moung  Thah-yah,  another  resi- 
dent in  our  yard,  whom  I  think  I  have  not  yet  mentioned, 
are  constant  attendants  on  evening  worship,  and  seem  to  be 
making  slow  advances  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  divine 
truth.  Moung  Shwa-ba,  the  last  baptized,  begins  to  appear 
to  great  advantage ;  has  very  correct  ideas  of  the  gospel 
system,  and  communicates  truth  to  the  inquirers  with  much 
feeling  and  animation.  In  zeal  for  the  extension  of  the  Re- 
deemer's kingdom,  he  surpasses  the  older  disciples.  This  is 
the  man  who,  from  not  knowing  that  there  was  such  a  being 
in  the  universe  as  a  God,  became  a  speculative  believer,  a  pen- 
itent, a  hopeful  recipient  of  grace,  and  a  candidate  for  baptism, 
all  in  the  space  of  three  days.  Some  of  the  above  mentioned 
have,  on  the  contrary,  been  several  months  in  making  similar 
attainments,  and  are  yet  found  wanting.  Thus  diverse  are 
the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

In  July,  of  1820,  Mrs.  Judson's  health  became  so 
reduced,  that,  after  trying  every  other  remedy  without 
success,  Mr.  Judson  felt  obliged  to  take  her  to  Bengal. 
Just  before  leaving,  their  hearts  had  been  cheered  by 
the  accession  of  four  new  disciples,  as  narrated  in  the 
following  extract  from  the  Journal :  — 


"  July  9,  Lord's  day.  Moung  Nyo-dwa  and  Moung  Gway 
request  baptism.  We  have  had  a  good  hope  of  the  former 
for  some  time.  With  the  latter  we  are  very  slightly  ac- 
quainted, though  he  has  been  a  constant  attendant  on  even- 
ing worship  for  nearly  two  months.  This  application,  how- 
ever, is  approved  by  some  of  the  most  discerning  in  the 
church.     The  Nan-dau-gong  people  hope  that  they  shall  get 


THE    NATIVE    CHURCH.  265 

grace  and  courage  enough  to  profess  the  Christian  religion, 
by  the  time  I  return  from  Bengal. 

"July  15.  Have  been  very  busy  all  the  past  week  in  get- 
ting ready  ibr  the  voyage.  In  procuring  a  governmental 
passport,  received  essentia]  assistance  from  Mr.  Lanciego,  a 
Spaniard,  the  present  collector  of  the  port,  and  one  of  the 
chief  magistrates  of  the  place  during  the  absence  of  the  vice- 
roy. He  has  also  promised  to  protect  the  people  whom  we 
leave  on  the  mission  prank 

"July  16,  Lord's  day.  A  lew  days  ago  we  concluded  to 
receive  the  two  new  applicants  for  baptism  ;  but  I  thought 
it  most  prudent,  partly  by  way  of  trying  their  sincerity,  to 
send  them  a  message,  suggesting  that,  since  I  was  greatly  oc- 
cupied in  getting  ready  for  sea,  and  since  one  of  them  was 
not  so  well  ioqnainted  with  the  doctrines  of  religion  as  was 
desirable,  it  might  be  better  to  defer  their  baptism  till  my 
return. 

"  This  morning  they  came  up  in  much  trouble.  They 
stated  that,  as  they  had  fully  embraced  the  Christian  religion 
in  their  hearts,  they  could  not  remain  easy  without  being 
baptized,  according  to  the  command  of  Christ;  that  no  man 
could  tell  whether  I  should  ever  return  or  not,  and  that  it 
was  their  earnest  petition,  that  if  I  could  possibly  find  time, 
and  thought  them  worthy  of  the  ordinance,  I  would  adminis- 
ter it  to  them  beibre  I  went  away.  They  did  not  wish  me 
to  go  out  to  the  usual  place,  as  that  was  at  some  distance,  but 
would  be  baptized  in  a  small  pond  near  the  mission  house. 
Momig  Gway  said  that,  though  he  was  very  ignorant,  he 
knew  enough  of  this  religion  to  love  it  sincerely,  and  to 
trust  in  Christ  for  salvation  from  all  his  sins.     I  reexamined 

men  both,  stated  to  men  the  great  danger  of  professing  a 

foreign  religion,  &c,  and,  on  their  urging  their  request,  told 
them  I  would  baptize  them  in  the  evening. 

"Was  obliged  to  be  out  all  the  afternoon,  getting  our 


266  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

things  aboard  the  ship,  as  we  expect  to  move  down  the  river 
to-morrow  morning.  At  night,  baptized  the  two  new  dis- 
ciples, after  which  we  all  partook  of  the  Lord's  supper  for  the 
last  time. 

"  July  1 7.  Ship  to  be  detained  two  days.  In  the  fore- 
noon, the  teacher,  Moung  Shwa-gnong,  came  in.  I  received 
him  with  some  reserve,  but  soon  found  that  he  had  not 
stayed  away  so  long  from  choice,  having  been  ill  with  a  fever 
for  some  time,  and  occupied  also  with  the  illness  of  his  fam- 
ily and  adherents.  He  gradually  wore  away  my  reserve; 
and  we  had  not  been  together  two  hours,  before  I  felt  more 
satisfied  than  ever,  from  his  account  of  his  mental  trials,  his 
struggles  with  sin,  his  strivings  to  be  holy,  his  penitence,  his 
faith,  his  exercises  in  secret  prayer,  that  he  is  a  subject  of 
the  special  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  he  is  indeed  a 
true  disciple.  He  stayed  all  day.  In  the  afternoon,  the  five 
Nan-dau -gong  visitors,  the  doctor,  Oo  Yan,  and  several 
others  came  together,  and  we  had  much  interesting  conver- 
sation. Towards  the  close,  Moung  Shwa-gnong,  as  if  to 
bring  things  to  a  crisis,  addressed  me  thus :  '  My  lord  teach- 
er, there  are  now  several  of  us  present  who  have  long  con- 
sidered this  religion.  I  hope  that  we  are  all  believers  in 
Jesus  Christ.'  '  I  am  afraid,'  replied  I,  '  to  say  that ;  how- 
ever, it  is  easily  ascertained ;  and  let  me  begin  with  you, 
teacher.  I  have  heretofore  thought  that  you  fully  believed 
in  the  eternal  God ;  but  I  have  had  some  doubt  whether  you 
fully  believed  in  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  atonement  which 
he  has  made.'  '  I  assure  you,'  he  replied,  '  that  I  am  as  fully 
persuaded  of  the  latter  as  of  the  former.'  '  Do  you  believe, 
then,'  I  continued,  '  that  none  but  the  disciples  of  Christ  will 
be  saved  from  sin  and  hell.'  '  None  but  his  disciples.'  '  How, 
then,  can  you  remain  without  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  Jesus  Christ,  and  becoming  his  full  disciple  in  body  and 
soul ?  '     'It  is  my  earnest  desire  to  do  so,  by  receiving  bap- 


THE    NATIVE    CHURCH.  267 

tisrn  ;  and  for  the  very  purpose  of  expressing  that  desire,  I 
hare  corae  here  to-day.'  '  You  say  you  are  desirous  of  re- 
ceiving baptism  ;  may  I  ask  when  you  desire  to  receive  it  ?  ' 
'At  any  time  you  will  please  to  give  it.  Now,  this  moment, 
if  you  please.'  '  Do  you  wish  to  receive  baptism  in  public  or 
in  private  V'  'I  will  receive  it  at  any  time,  and  in  any  cir- 
cumstances, that  you  please  to  direct.'  I  then  said :  '  Teach- 
er, I  am  satisfied  from  your  conversation  this  forenoon,  that 
you  are  a  true  disciple,  and  I  reply,  therefore,  that  I  am  as 
desirous  of  giving  you  baptism,  as  you  are  of  receiving  it.' 
This  conversation  had  a  great  effect  on  all  present.  The 
disciples  rejoiced  ;  the  rest  were  astonished  ;  for  though  they 
have  long  thought  that  he  believed  the  Christian  religion, 
theycould  not  think  that  such  a  man  could  easily  be  brought 
to  profess  it,  and  suffer  himself  to  be  put  under  the  water  by 
a  foreigner.  I  then  turned  to  Moung  Thah-a,  one  of  the 
Nan-dau-gong  people,  who,  I  hope,  is  a  true  believer.  'Are 
you  willing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Jesus  Christ  ? ' 

*  U  the    teacher,   Moung   Shwa-gnong,   consents,'   said   he, 

*  why  should  I  hesitate  ? '  'And  if  he  does  not  consent,  what 
then  '/ '  'I  must  wait  a  little  longer.'  '  Stand  by,'  said  I ; 
'you  trust  in  Moucg  Shwa-gnong,  rather  than  in  Jesus 
Christ.  You  are  not  worthy  of  being  baptized.'  Moung 
Myat-Iab,  on  being  similarly  interrogated,  wished  to  consider 
a  little  longer.  Oo  Yan  was  still  further  from  committing 
himself.  Of  the  women  present,  I  interrogated  Mali  Men-la 
only.  She  had  evidently  a  considerable  struggle  in  her 
mind,  probably  on  account  of  her  husband's  having  just  de- 
clined. At  length  she  said- that,  if  I  thought  it  suitable  for 
her  to  be  baptized,  she  was  desirous  of  receiving  the  ordi- 
ii.ui'  r.  I  told  her  that  her  reply  was  not  satisfactory.  I 
could  not  consent  to  baptize  any  one  who  could  possibly  re- 
main easy  without  being  baptized,  and  then  I  related  the 
story  of  the  last  two  disciples ;  after  which,  the  party  broke  up. 


268  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

"  In  the  evening,  I  laid  the  case  of  Moung  Shwa-gnong 
before  the  church,  and  we  joyfully  agreed  to  receive  him  to 
communion,  on  his  being  baptized. 

"July  18.  In  the  morning,  the  teacher  again  made  his 
appearance.  I  again  asked  him  whether  he  preferred  being 
baptized  in  the  day  or  in  the  evening,  and  he  again  left  it  to 
my  decision ;  on  which,  I  advised  him  to  wait  till  night.  He 
appeared  very  well  through  the  day,  his  deportment  solemn, 
his  conversation  spiritual.  Just  at  night,  I  called  in  two  or 
three  of  the  disciples,  read  the  account  of  the  baptism  of  the 
eunuch,  made  the  baptismal  prayer,  and  then  proceeded  with 
the  teacher  to  the  accustomed  place,  went  down  into  the 
water,  and  baptized  him. 

"  On  my  return,  I  found  that  Mah  Men-la,  whom  I  had  left 
with  Mrs.  Judson,  had  gone  away.  As  soon  as  she  saw  that 
the  teacher  had  actually  gone  to  be  baptized,  she  exclaimed : 
"Ah,  he  has  now  gone  to  obey  the  command  of  Jesus  Christ, 
while  I  remain  without  obeying.  I  shall  not  be  able  to  sleep 
this  night.  I  must  go  home  and  consult  my  husband, -and 
return."  In  the  evening,  we  again  partook  of  the  Lord's 
supper,  in  consequence  of  the  admission  of  the  teacher,  and 
my  expected  departure  on  the  pnorrow.  We  had  just  fin- 
ished, when,  about  nine  o'clock,  Mah  Men-la  returned,  accom- 
panied by  the  two  other  women  from  her  village.  She  im- 
mediately requested  to  be  baptized.  The  disciples  present 
assented  without  hesitation.  I  told  her  that  I  rejoiced  to 
baptize  her,  having  been  long  satisfied  that  she  had  received 
the  grace  of  Christ ;  and,  it  being  very  late,  I  led  her  out  to 
the  pond  near  the  house  by  lantern  light,  and  thus  baptized 
the  tenth  Burman  convert,  and  the  first  woman.  Mah  Men- 
la  is  fifty-one  years  old,  of  most  extensive  acquaintance 
through  the  place,  of  much  strength  of  mind,  decision  of 
character,  and  consequent  influence  over  others.  She  is,  in- 
deed, among  women,  what  Moung  Shwa-gnong  is  among  men. 


THE    NATIVE    CHURCH.  269 

"  On  returning  to  the  house,  she  said :  '  Now  I  have  taken 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  I  have  nothing  to 
do  but  to  commit  myself,  soul  and  body,  into  the  hands  of  my 
Lord,  assured  that  he  will  never  suffer  me  to  fall  away.' 
Several  visitors  spent  the  night  at  the  mission  house. 

u  July  19.  In  the  morning,  we  all  met  for  worship.  After 
I  had  prayed,  Moung  Thah-lah  and  Moung  Shwa-ba  both 
prayed,  with  much  propriety  and  feeling.  In  the  course  of 
the  forenoon,  Mali  Men-la's  husband,  and  Moung  Thali-a, 
and  the  doctor,  and  several  others,  came  in,  so  that  we  had 
quite  a  house  full.  At  noon,  we  set  out  for  the  river,  followed 
by  near  a  hundred  people,  the  women  crying  aloud  in  the 
Burman  manner,  and  almost  all  deeply  affected.  When  we 
entered  the  boat,  I  called  the  teacher,  and  Mali  Men-la,  and 
a  few  others,  to  go  with  us  to  the  ship,  which  lay  at  some  dis- 
tance in  the  river.  The  rest  remained  on  the  wharf,  bidding 
lis  farewell,  telling  us  to  come  back  soon,  &e.  Thus  we  left 
the  shores  of  Rangoon.  Those  who  accompanied  us  to  the 
ship,  staged  an  hour  or  two,  and  returned.  We  stood  as 
long  on  the  quarter  deck  looking  at  them,  as  the  others  had 
stood  on  the  wharf  looking  at  us.*  " 

Mrs.  Judson  was  greatly  benefited  by  the  journey  ; 
and,  after  an  absence  of  nearly  seven  months,  they 
were  permitted  to  rejoin  the  beloved  flock  in  Rangoon, 


*  One  of  these  female  disciples  was  found  at  Rangoon,  by  the 
missionaries,  in  August,  1852,  having  attained  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  From  the  time  of  her  baptism  until  now,  for  thirty  years, 
she  has  maintained,  in  the  midst  of  heathenism,  a  consistent  Chris- 
tian profession.  She  remembered  well  Mr.  Judson,  and  "  the  Mam- 
ma "  Judson,  and  was  in  daily  expectation  of  meeting  them  again 
in  heaven. 


270  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

which  they  had  left  exposed  to  the  trials  of  persecution, 
without  a  guide  or  teacher.  But  solicitude  soon  gave 
place  to  joyful  thanksgiving,  when  the  scattered  band 
collected  once  more  at  the  wonted  place  of  meeting, 
and  it  was  found  that  not  one  had  swerved  from  the 
faith,  or  grown  cold  in  his  attachment  to  it.  When 
it  is  remembered  that  it  was  not  yet  two  years  since 
the  earliest  of  these  converts  had  presented  himself 
as  an  inquirer  at  the  zayat,  and  that  most  of  them 
had  never  till  within  a  few  months  heard  of  an  eternal 
God  and  a  Saviour,  this  is,  certainly,  a  very  striking 
fact.  It  was  not  because  their  constancy  had  been  sub- 
jected to  no  trials.  Some  of  them  had  been  forced, 
by  the  extortions  and  oppressions  of  the  petty  officers 
of  government,  to  flee  to  the  woods  ;  others  had  taken 
refuge  in  the  employment  of  some  government  man 
who  could  protect  them;  all  had  been,  during  the 
whole  time,  nearly  destitute  of  the  means  of  grace. 
Moung  Shwa-gnong,  whose  rank  and  character  made 
him  a  conspicuous  mark,  had  been  in  still  more  immi- 
nent danger.  At  one  time,  all  the  priests  and  officers 
of  the  village  where  he  resided,  had  formed  a  conspir- 
acy to  destroy  him.  So  bold  and  determined  were 
their  measures,  that  he  began  to  think  he  must  flee  for 
his  life.  But,  the  very  eagerness  of  his  enemies 
proved  the  means  of  their  defeat.     Desirous  of  secur- 


THE   NATIYE    CHURCH.  271 

ing  the  countenance  of  the  viceroy,  one  of  the  number, 
a  member  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  province,  waited 
upon  his  highness,  and,  by  way  of  sounding  him  on  the 
subject,  began  to  complain  that  Moung  Shwa-gnong 
was  turning  the  priests'  rice-pots  bottom  upwards.  But 
the  curt  reply,  "  What  consequence  ?  Let  the  priests 
turn  them  back  again !  "  quashed  the  conspiracy,  and 
assured  the  trembling  disciples  of  toleration,  so  long  as 
Mya-day-men  should  remain  in  power. 

The  history  of  the  mission,  through  the  following 
year,  presents  the  same  general  features.  The  country 
being  at  this  time  in  a  state  of  universal  alarm  and 
distress,  in  consequence  of  war  with  Siam,  the  converts 
dared  not  expose  themselves  to  the  notice  and  the  con- 
sequent extortions  of  government,  by  living  near  the 
mission  house.  Yet,  notwithstanding  this  depressing 
influence,  and  the  furious  private  opposition  encoun- 
tered at  times,  the  work  went  on.  We  hear,  under 
certain  dates,  of  assemblies  of  twenty-five  and  thirty 
at  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath;  of  a  succession  of 
visitors  through  a  whole  day ;  of  "  twenty  adults  "  at 
one  time,  "  in  all  the  various  stages  of  religious  in- 
quiry ; "  of  conversions  and  baptisms. 

Under  date  of  May  20th,  a  new  specimen  of  Bur- 
man  character  presented  itself,  of  the  same  class  of 
minds  with  Moung  Shwa-gnong  and  Oo-yan. 


272  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

"  Encountered  another  new  character,  one  Moung  Long, 
from  the  neighborhood  of  Shwa-doung,  a  disciple  of  the  great 
Toung-dwen  teacher,  the  acknowledged  head  of  all  the  semi- 
atheists  in  the  country.  Like  the  rest  of  the  sect,  Moung 
Long  is,  in  reality,  a  complete  skeptic,  scarcely  believing  his 
own  existence.  They  say  he  is  always  quarrelling  with  his 
wife  on  some  metaphysical  point.  For  instance,  if  she  says, 
1  The  rice  is  ready,'  he  will  reply,  '  Rice  !  what  is  rice  ?  Is 
it  matter  or  spirit  ?  Is  it  an  idea,  or  is  it  nonentity  ? '  Per- 
haps she  will  say,  '  It  is  matter ; '  and  he  will  reply,  '  Well, 
wife,  and  what  is  matter  ?  Are  you  sure  there  is  such  a  thing 
in  existence,  or  are  you  merely  subject  to  a  delusion  of  the 
senses  ? '  * 

"  When  he  first  came  in,  I  thought  him  an  ordinary  man. 
He  has  only  one  good  eye ;  but  I  soon  discovered  that  that 
one  eye  has  as  '  great  a  quantity  of  being '  as  half  a  dozen 
common  eyes.  In  his  manners  he  is  just  the  reverse  of 
Moung  Thah-ee  —  all  suavity,  and  humility,  and  respect. 
He  professed  to  be  an  inquirer  after  the  truth  ;  and  I  accord- 
ingly opened  to  him  some  parts  of  the  gospel.  He  listened 
with  great  seriousness,  and  when  I  ceased  speaking,  he  re- 
mained so  thoughtful,  and  apparently  impressed  with  the 
truth,  that  I  began  to  hope  he  would  come  to  some  good, 
and  therefore  invited  him  to  ask  some  question,  relative 
to  what  he  had  heard.  '  Your  servant,'  said  he,  '  has  not 
much  to  inquire  of  your  lordship.  In  your  lordship's  sacred 
speech,  however,  there  are  one  or  two  words  that  your  ser- 
vant does  not  understand.  Your  lordship  says,  that  in  the 
beginning  God  created  one  man  and  one  woman.  I  do  not 
understand  (I  beg  your  lordship's  pardon)  what  a  man  is,  and 


*  The  doctrines  of  idealism  and  nihilism  were  fully  and  ably  dis- 
cussed by  the  Brahmins  and  Buddhists  centuries  before  the  time  of 
Berkeley  and  Hume. 


THE   NATIVE   CHURCH.  273 

why  he  is  called  a  man.'  My  eyes  were  now  opened  in  an 
instant  to  his  real  character ;  and  I  had  the  happiness  to  be 
enabled,  for  about  twenty  minutes,  to  lay  blow  after  blow 
upon  his  skeptical  bead,  with  such  effect  that  he  kept  falling 
and  falling ;  and  though  he  made  several  desperate  efforts  to 
get  up,  he  found  himself,  at  last,  prostrate  on  the  ground, 
unable  to  stir.  Moung  Shwa-gnong,  who  had  been  an  atten- 
tive listener,  was  extremely  delighted  to  see  his  enemy  so 
well  punished  ;  for  this  Moung  Long  has  sorely  harassed  him 
in  time  past  The  poor  man  was  not,  however,  in  the  least 
angry  at  his  discomfiture,  but,  in  the  true  spirit  of  his  school, 
said  that,  though  he  had  heard  much  of  me,  the  reality  far 
exceeded  the  report.  Afterwards  he  joined  us  in  worship, 
and  listened  with  great  attention,  as  did  also  his  wife." 

On  the  4th  of  June,  Moung  Long  is  again  mentioned 
as  being  present  with  his  wife,  who,  says  Mr.  Judson, 
"  proves  to  be  as  sharp  as  himself,  and  has  been  har- 
assing Mrs.  Judson  with  all  sorts  of  questions  about 
the  possibility  of  sin's  finding  entrance  into  a  pure 
mind,  or  of  its  being  permitted  under  the  government 
of  a  holy  sovereign." 

To  the  reflecting  Christian,  no  period  of  the  missionary 
history  offers  points  of  deeper  interest,  than  these  two 
years  ItelOOding  the  unsuccessful  application  to  the 
emperor.  Cut  off  from  all  human  resource,  the  work 
Bed  more  than  ever  the  characteristics  of  a  work 
of  God,  and  proved  its  possession  of  a  divine  principle 
of  life,  whose  development  no  man  could  hinder.  At 
18 


274  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

the  close  of  1821,  the  church  in  Rangoon  counted 
eighteen  native  members.  This  may,  to  some,  appear 
small  as  the  fruit  of  ten  years'  toil.  But  if  we  take 
into  the  account  the  various  classes  of  society,  and 
types  of  character,  the  diversity  in  religious  experience 
and  in  gifts,  represented  in  this  little  company,  it  will  be 
seen  that  it  contained  in  itself  the  germs  of  a  mighty 
growth.  Still  more,  in  the  character  of  their  piety,  we 
see  the  pledge  of  the  glorious  harvest  in  prospect. 
Each  one  had  put  on  Christ,  at  the  risk  of  the  loss  of 
all  things.  Conviction  of  the  sinner's  guilt  and  dan- 
ger must  be  very  deep,  and  perception  of  the  reality 
and  excellence  of  the  way  of  salvation  by  Christ  very 
strong,  to  induce  a  poor  slavish  heathen,  under  outward 
circumstances  so  threatening,  to  renounce  the  religion 
of  his  country.  No  one  was  admitted  to  baptism,  with- 
out the  fullest  evidence  of  a  radical  change  of  charac- 
ter, and  a  clear  understanding  of  all  the  obligations 
and  all  the  dangers  involved  in  the  reception  of  the 
ordinance.  The  indication,  in  any  case,  of  a  disposition 
to  make  obedience  to  the  duty  dependent  upon  the 
action  of  another,  was  regarded  as  sufficient  reason  for 
setting  the  applicant  aside.  Each  was  required  to 
stand  by  himself  in  this  great  matter,  and  to  make  his 
decision  on  his  own  personal  responsibility.  Hence,  a 
depth  and  strength  of  individual  piety  in  the  converts, 


THE   NATIVE   CHURCH.  275 

truly  marvellous  in  persons  so  recently  reclaimed  from 
heathenism.  Deprived  of  their  religious  teachers,  and 
separated  from  each  other,  they  still  maintained  the  life 
of  faith  in  their  hearts,  and  became  sources  of  spiritual 
blessing  to  others. 

In  the  following  beautiful  letter  from  one  of  their 
number,  we  have  an  expression  of  intelligent,  as  well 
as  of  fervent,  heartfelt  piety,  which  should  put  to  the 
blush  many  a  professed  disciple,  who  has  enjoyed  a 
whole  life's  culture  in  this  Christian  land. 

Translation  of  a  Letter  from  Moung  Shwa-ba  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Baldwin. 

Moung  Shwa-ba,  an  inhabitant  of  Rangoon,  a  town  of 
Burmah,  one  who  adheres  to  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  has 
been  baptized  ;  who  meditates  on  the  immeasurable,  incalcu- 
lable nature  of  the  divine  splendor  and  glory  of  the  Invisible, 
even  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  God  the  Father,  and  takes 
refuge  in  the  wisdom,  and  power,  and  glory  of  God,  affec- 
tionately  addresses  the  great  teacher  Baldwin,  a  superintend- 
ent of  missionary  affairs  in  the  city  of  Boston,  of  America. 

Beloved  elder  Brother  :  Though  in  the  present  state 
the  [daces  of  our  residence  are  very  far  apart,  and  we  have 
never  met,  yet,  by  means  of  letters,  and  of  the  words  of  Yiida- 
than,  who  has  told  me  of  you,  I  love  you,  and  wish  to  send 
you  this  letter.  When  the  time  arrives  in  which  we  shall 
wholly  put  on  Christ,  —  him  in  loving  whom  we  cannot  tire, 
and  in  praising  whom  we  can  find  no  end,  —  and  shall  be 
adorned  with  those  ornaments  which  the  Lord  will  dispense 
to  us  out  of  the  heavenly  treasure-house  that  he  has  prepared, 


276  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

then  we  snail  love  one  another  more  perfectly  than  we  do 
now. 

Formerly,  I  was  in  the  habit  of  concealing  my  sins,  that 
they  might  not  appear ;  but  I  am  now  convinced  that  I  can- 
not conceal  my  sins  from  the  Lord,  who  sees  and  knows  all 
things,  and  that  I  cannot  atone  for  them,  nor  obtain  atone- 
ment from  my  former  objects  of  worship.  And,  accordingly, 
I  count  myself  to  have  lost  all,  under  the  elements  of  the 
world,  and  through  the  grace  of  the  faith  of  Christ  only  to 
have  gained  the  spiritual  graces  and  rewards  pertaining  to 
eternity,  which  cannot  be  lost.  Therefore  I  have  no  ground 
for  boasting,  pride,  and  self-exaltation.  And,  without  desir- 
ing the  praise  of  men,  or  seeking  my  own  will,  I  wish  to 
do  the  will  of  God  the  Father.  The  members  of  the  body, 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  displeasing  to  God,  I  desire  to 
make  instruments  of  righteousness,  not  following  the  will  of 
the  flesh.  Worldly  desire  and  heavenly  desire  being  contrary 
the  one  to  the  other,  and  the  desire  of  visible  things  counter- 
acting the  desire  of  invisible  things,  I  am  as  a  dead  man. 
However,  he  quickens  the  dead,  he  awakens  those  that  sleep, 
he  lifts  up  those  that  fall,  he  opens  blind  eyes,  he  perforates 
deaf  ears,  he  lights  a  lamp  in  the  great  house  of  darkness,  he 
relieves  the  wretched,  he  feeds  the  hungry.  The  words  of 
such  a  Benefactor  if  we  reject,  we  must  die  forever,  and 
come  to  everlasting  destruction.  Which  circumstance  con- 
sidering, and  meditating  also  on  sickness,  old  age,  and  death, 
incident  to  the  present  state  of  mutability,  I  kneel  and  pros- 
trate myself,  and  pray  before  God,  the  Father  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  has  made  atonement  for  our  sins,  that  he 
may  have  mercy  on  me,  and  pardon  my  sins,  and  make  me 
holy,  and  give  me  a  repenting,  believing,  and  loving  mind. 

Formerly,  I  trusted  in  my  own  merits ;  but  now,  through 
the  preaching  and  instruction  of  teacher  Yiidathan,  I  trust  in 
the  merit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     The  teacher,  therefore, 


THE   NATIVE    CHURCH.  277 

is  the  tree  ;  we  are  the  blossoms  and  fruit  He  has  labored 
to  partake  of  the  fruit,  and  now  the  tree  begins  to  bear.  The 
bread  of  life  he  has  given,  and  we  eat.  The  water  from  the 
brook  which  flows  from  the  top  of  Mount  Calvary,  for  the 
cleansing  of  all  filth,  he  has  brought,  and  made  us  bathe  and 
drink.  The  bread  of  which  we  eat  will  yet  ferment  and  rise. 
The  water  which  we  drink  and  bathe  in,  is  the  water  of  an 
unfailing  spring;  and  many  will  yet  drink  and  bathe  therein. 
Then  all  things  will  be  regenerated  and  changed.  Now  we 
are  strangers  and  pilgrims ;  and  it  is  my  desire,  without  ad- 
hering to  the  things  of  this  world,  but  longing  for  my  native 
abode,  to  consider  and  inquire  how  long  I  must  lauor  here, 
to  whom  I  ought  to  show  the  light  I  have  obtained,  when  I 
ought  to  put  it  up,  and  when  disclose  it. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  country  of  Burmah,  being  in  the 
evil  practice  of  forbidden  lust,  erroneous  worship,  and  false 
spee<h,  deride  the  religion  of  Christ.  However,  that  wo 
may  bear  patiently  derision,  and  persecution,  and  death,  for 
the  sake  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  pray  for  us.  I  do  thus 
pray.  For,  elder  brother,  I  have  to  bear  the  threatening  of 
my  own  brother,  and  my  brother-in-law,  who  say  :  "  We  will 
tad  bruise,  and  pound  you;  we  will  bring  you  into 
difficulty  ;  you  associate  with  false  people  ;  you  keep  a 
ftlae  religion  ;  and  you  speak  false  words."  However,  their 
false  religion  is  the,  religion  of  death.  The  doctrine  of  the 
cross  is  the  religion  of  life,  of  love,  of  faith.  I  am  a  servant 
of  faith.  Formerly  I  was  a  servant  of  Satan.  Now  I  am  a 
servant  of  Christ.  And  a  good  servant  cannot  but  follow 
his  master.    Moreover,  the  divine  promises  must  be  accom- 


In  this  country  of  Burmah  are  many  strayed  sheep. 
Teacher  Yiidathan,  pitying  them,  has  come  to  gather  them 
together,  and  to  feed  them  in  love.  Some  will  not  listen, 
but  run  away.     Some  do  listen,  and  adhere  to  him ;  and  that 


278  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

our  numbers  ma}'-  increase  we  meet  together,  and  pray  to 
the  great  Proprietor  of  the  sheep. 

Thus  I,  Moung  Shwa-ba",  a  disciple  of  teacher  Yiidathan, 
in  Rangoon,  write  and  send  this  letter  to  the  great  teacher 
Baldwin,  who  lives  in  Boston,  America. 

N.  B.   Translated  from  the  Burmese  original,  September 

23,  1823. 

A.  Judson,  Jr. 

An  interesting  development  of  Christian  activity  is 
mentioned  in  the  case  of  Mah  Men-la,  the  leading 
female  member  of  the  church,  who,  self-moved,  opened 
a  school  in  her  own  house,  for  teaching  the  boys  and 
girls  of  the  village  to  read,  so  that  they  might  not  be 
obliged,  as  formerly,  to  resort  to  the  Burman  priests 
for  education.  Moung  Ing,  "  the  poor  fisherman," 
who  was  the  second  Burman  convert,  but  had  been 
obliged  to  leave  before  being  baptized,  returns  after  an 
absence  of  many  months,  still  "  a  sincere  and  hearty 
believer  in  the  Lord  Jesus,"  and  desires  to  become  "  a 
full  disciple,"  by  putting  on  Christ  in  baptism.  At 
Bike,  his  place  of  residence,  the  Christian  heart  of  this 
poor  unlettered  man  could  not  be  content  with  having 
found  the  Saviour,  for  itself.  To  the  best  of  his  ability, 
he  had  made  known  the  gospel  among  the  Burmans 
and  Roman  Catholic  Portuguese  who  compose  its  pop- 
ulation ;  and,  immediately  after  his  baptism,  he  re- 
turned, laden  with  books  for  distribution  among  both 


THE   NATIVE   CHURCH.  279 

classes.  In  the  course  of  the  summer,  Moung  Shwa-ba 
WW  taken  into  the  service  of  the  mission,  with  a  view 
to  his  becoming,  in  due  time,  a  preacher  of  the  gospel. 
Mr.  Judson  thus  speaks  of  this  interesting  case  : — , 

"  I  have  this  day  taken  Moung  Shwa-ba  into  the  service  of 
the  mission.  He  bids  fairer  than  any  other  member  of  the 
church  to  be  qualified,  in  due  time,  for  the  ministry.  For, 
though  inferior  to  Moung  Thah-lah  in  fluency  of  speech,  and 
to  Moung  ShUlrgaong  in  genius  and  address,  he  is  superior 
to  the  former  in  consistency  of  character  and  gravity  of  de- 
portment, and  to  the  latter  in  experimental  acquaintance 
with  divine  things,  and  devotedness  to  the  cause.  But  the 
principal  trait  of  character  which  distinguishes  him  from  the 
rest,  and  affords  considerable  evidence  that  he  is  called  by 
higher  authority  than  that  of  man  to  the  Christian  ministry, 
is  his  humble  and  persevering  desire  for  that  office  —  a  de- 
sin-  which  sprang  up  in  his  heart  soon  after  his  conversion, 
and  has  been  growing  ever  since.  I  intend  to  employ  him, 
at  present,  as  an  assistant  in  the  zayat,  on  a  small  allowance 
of  seven  or  eight  rupees  a  month,  which  I  hope  the  Hoard 
will  approve  of.  In  that  situation  he  will  have  an  opportu- 
nity of  improving  in  those  qualifications  which  are  requisite 
to  fit  him  to  be  a  teacher  of  religion  among  his  fellow  coun- 
trymen." 

Ere  long,  it  is  mentioned,  that  "  Moung  Shwa-gnong 
also  begins  to  be  dissatisfied  with  being  a  mere  disciple, 
and  hopes  that  he  may  one  day  be  thought  worthy  of 
being  a  teacher  of  the  Christian  religion." 

Is  not  this  a  glorious  specimen  of  a  true  church  of 
Jesus  Christ?     Might  it  not  well  be  said,  that  in  the 


280  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

gathering  of  this  band  of  believers,  few  though  they 
were  in  number,  a  great  work  had  been  accomplished, 
an  important  step  in  the  subjugation  of  Burmah  to  the 
Christian  faith ! 

A  thought  of ,  much  interest  is  suggested  by  the  re- 
view just  given  of  the  characteristics  of  this  first  native 
church,  which,  so  far  as  human  agency  was  concerned, 
was  moulded  solely  by  the  influence  of  one  individual. 
Even  that  work  of  God,  which  is  most  peculiarly  his 
own,  the  conversion  of  souls,  takes  its  specific  form  of 
development  in  no  small  degree  from  the  human  in- 
strumentality used  in  producing  it.  The  piety  of  con- 
verts is,  as  a  general  thing,  a  faithful  reflection  of  that 
of  their  spiritual  guides.  What  Christians  were  those 
who,  in  our  own  country,  were  brought  into  the  church 
under  Edwards  and  Whitfield  and  Nettleton  !  Religion 
took  hold  of  their  whole  natures  with  the  grasp  of  a 
giant.  What  depth  of  conviction ;  what  views  of  the 
awful  majesty  and  excellence  of  the  Divine  nature  and 
law ;  what  an  overwhelming  sense  of  the  love  of 
Christ  to  creatures  so  guilty,  characterized  their  re- 
ligious experience  !  The  life  which  developed  itself  out 
of  this  powerful  inward  ."  work,"  as  it-  was  well  called, 
bore  the  stamp  of  its  origin.  "  Ye  are  not  your  own  ; 
ye  are  bought  with  a  price,  even  the  precious  blood  of 
Christ,"  was  henceforth  written  on  all  their  aims,  on 


THE   NATIVE    CHURCH.  281 

their  whole  walk  and  conversation  in  the  world.  Place 
beside  this  the  results  of  some  more  recent  revival  la- 
bors, the  genuineness  of  which  cannot  charitably  be 
doubted ;  yet,  in  comparison,  how  weak,  shallow,  and 
ineffective  is  the  type  of  conversion  !  To  what  can 
the  difference  be  ascribed,  except  to  the  wide  difference 
in  the  personal  religious  experience  of  their  spiritual 
teachers  ? 

In  this  view,  how  beautiful  is  the  light  reflected  from 
the  piety  of  these  first  Burman  converts,  upon  that  of 
the  missionary  who  had  been  their  sole  guide  in  the 
knowledge  of  God.  All  his  genius,  and  his  rich  human 
culture,  would  have  availed  nothing  in  this  highest 
work,  without  that  deep,  earnest,  all-pervading  spirit 
of  godliness  which  formed  the  life  of  his  own  soul. 
Other  aids  are  indeed  necessary,  for  bringing  into  con- 
tact the  minds  separated  from  each  other  by  diverse 
languages,  customs,  and  mental  habits ;  but,  this  being 
accomplished,  the  missionary's  success  in  his  real  work, 
that  of  winning  souls  to  Christ,  of  instru mentally  form- 
ing them  into  His  image,  demands  in  him,  as  the  es- 
sential condition  of  success,  A   sanctified   spirit,  a 

HOLY   LIFE. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

SUFFERINGS   AT   AVA. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1821,  Mrs. 
Judson's  complaint  returned  in  so  aggravated  a  form, 
that  her  physicians  prescribed  a  long  sea  voyage,  and 
change  of  climate,  as  the  only  chance  for  her  recovery. 
After  a  long  course  of  the  most  active  medical  treat- 
ment, with  no  effect  but  to  reduce  her  strength,  this 
painful  step  was  at  length  resolved  on;  and  on  the  21st 
of  August  she  sailed  for  Bengal,  on  her  way  to  her 
native  land.  Her  departure  left  Mr.  Judson  in  utter 
solitude,  for  nearly  four  months.  In  December,  he 
was  cheered  by  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Price,  a  missionary 
physician  recently  appointed  by  the  Board;  and  in 
January,  by  the  return  of  Mr.  Hough  and  his  family,  to 
resume  their  connection  with  the  mission.  Prospects 
at  this  time  looked  brighter  than  at  any  former  period. 
Their  plans,  were,  however,  soon  disturbed,  by  a  sum- 
mons for  Dr.  Price  to  come  up  to  "the  golden  city," 
whither  the  fame  of  his  surgical  successes  in  Rangoon 


SUFFERINGS    AT   AVA.  283 

had  spread,  and  had  awakened  the  royal  curiosity. 
Of  course,  Mr.  Judson  was  obliged  to  accompany  him 
as  interpreter.  At  almost  any  other  time  he  would 
have  embraced  the  opportunity  with  joy ;  for,  as  be- 
fore remarked,  it  was  in  his  view  an  object  of  prime 
importance,  for  the  spread  of  Christianity  through  the 
empire,  that  it  should  gain  a  foothold  in  Ava.  Now, 
however,  the  promising  state  of  the  mission  at  Ran- 
goon, and  especially  his  earnest  desire  to  complete  the 
translation  of  the  New  Testament,  made  him  very  re- 
luctant to  go.  But  "  the  golden  lips  "  had  spoken,  and 
there  was  no  room  for  choice.  Accordingly,  in  Au- 
gust, 1822,  they  left  Rangoon,  and  proceeded  in  a  gov- 
ernment boat  up  the  river. 

Their  reception  at  Ava  was  widely  different  from 
that  experienced  on  Mr.  Judson's  former  visit.  The 
Jclat  of  Dr.  Price's  surgical  skill  seemed  to  have  dis- 
pelled all  prejudices,  and  disposed  the  emperor  to  be 
extremely  liberal  and  obliging  towards  all  who  were 
connected  with  him,  —  even  so  far  as  to  wink  at  the 
propagation  of  a  new  religion.  He  learned,  without 
any  manifestation  of  displeasure,  that  some  of  his  own 
subjects  in  Rangoon  had  embraced  the  foreign  faith. 
The  royal  palace  itself  was  frequently  the  scene  of  an- 
imated religious  discussion,  with  members  of  the  im- 
perial family,  and   the  highest  officers  of  government. 


284  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

One  of  the  king's  brothers,  Prince  M.,  a  highly  intelli- 
gent young  man,  greatly  interested  in  foreign  science, 
and  who  had  attached  himself  strongly  to  the  missiona- 
ries, assured  Mr.  Judson  that  there  need  be  no  appre- 
hension of  religious  persecution  under  the  present  reign. 
"  My  brother,"  said  he,  "  has  a  good  heart,  and  wishes 
all  to  believe  and  worship  as  they  please."  On  one 
occasion,  in  ii  personal  interview  with  the  king,  His 
Majesty  renewed,  in  a  friendly  manner,  his  inquiries 
respecting  the  Burman  converts.  In  the  course  of  his 
replies,  Mr.  Judson  made  known  the  fact,  that  he  was 
accustomed  to  preach  every  Sabbath. 

" '  What !  in  Burman  ? '  '  Yes.'  *  Let  us  hear  how  you 
preach.'  I  hesitated.  An  a-tvven-woon  repeated  the  order. 
I  began  with  a  form  of  worship  which  first  ascribes  glory  to 
God,  and  then  declares  the  commands  of  the  law  of  the  gos- 
pel; after  which  I  stopped.  'Go  on,'  said  another  a-twen- 
woon.  The  whole  court  was  profoundly  silent.  I  proceeded 
with  a  few  sentences,  declarative  of  the  perfections  of  Goa, 
when  his  majesty's  curiosity  was  satisfied,  and  he  inter- 
rupted me.  In  the  course  of  subsequent  conversation,  he 
asked  what  I  had  to  say  of  Gaudama.  I  replied,  that  we 
all  knew  he  was  the  son  of  King  Thog-dan-dah-nah ;  that 
we  regarded  him  as  a  wise  man  and  a  great  teacher,  but  did 
not  call  him  God.  '  That  is  right,'  said  Moung  K.  N.,  an 
a-tvven-woon  who  has  not  hitherto  appeared  very  friendly 
to  me.  And  he  proceeded  to  relate  the  substance  of  a  long 
communication  which  I  lately  made  to  him,  in  the  privy 
council-room,  about  God  and  Christ,  &c.  And  this  he  did 
in  a  very  clear  and  satisfactory  manner,  so  that  I  had 


SUFFERINGS    AT    AVA.  285 

scarcely  a  single  correction  to  make  in  his  statement 
Moung  Zah,  encouraged  by  all  this,  really  began  to  take 
the  side  of  God  before  his  majesty,  and  said,  » Nearly  all 
the  world,  your  majesty,  believe  in  an  eternal  God,  all,  ex- 
cept Burmah  and  Siam,  these  little  spots ! '  His  majesty 
remained  silent,  and  after  some  desultory  inquiries,  he  ab- 
ruptly arose,  and  retired." 

Subsequent  interviews  with  his  majesty,  proved 
that  no  unfavorable  impression  had  been  made  on  his 
mind  by  this  exposition  of  the  Christian  faith.  When 
Mr.  Judson  was  about  to  leave  for  Rangoon,  in  expec- 
tation of  Mrs.  J.'s  speedy  arrival,  the  king  inquired 
with  great  Interest  respecting  his  return,  and  expressed 
much  satisfaction  at  the  assurance  of  his  intention  to 
make  Ava  his  permanent  residence.  He  obtained, 
likewise,  by  an  imperial  order,  the  grant*  of  a  small 
piece  of  land  from  tho  chief  public  minister  of  state, 
for  the  express  purpose  of  building  a  kyoung,  —  the 
designation  of  residences  appropriated  to  teachers  of 
religion. 

Such  were  the  bright  prospects  of  the  mission  when 
Mr.  Judson  left  Ava,  at  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1823.  On  his  arrival  in  Rangoon,  he  found  there  a 
letter  from  Mrs.  Judson,  which  informed  him  that  her 
absence  would  be  protracted  several  months  longer. 
He  concluded  to  await  her  coming  in  Rangoon,  em- 
ploying the  interval  in  completing  his  translation  of 


286  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

the  New  Testament,  —  "  a  work,"  he  writes,  "  which  I 
left  unfinished  with  great  reluctance,  and  which  I  re- 
joice to  have  leisure  to  reassume." 

A  weary,  anxious  year  followed ;  for  it  was  not  till 
February,  1824,  that  he  had  the  joy  of  welcoming  his 
long  absent  wife,  and  fourteen  months  had  then  elapsed 
since  the  date  of  her  last  letter.  We  pass  lightly  over 
such  an  item  as  this,  in  the  hurry  of  strange  and  over- 
whelming events  which  immediately  succeeded.  But 
let  any  one  try  to  realize  it  as  suffered  by  himself,  and 
it  will  be  felt  that  the  uncomplaining  endurance  of  such 
trials  is  not  among  the  least  evidences  of  a  disinter- 
ested and  heroic  spirit.  His  joy  at  meeting  was 
greatly  enhanced  by  the  indications  of  improved  health, 
written  on  the  fresh  and  animated  countenance  of  his 
beloved  wife.  "  It  is  the  Ann  Hasseltine  of  other 
days !  "  he  exclaims,  in  a  letter  relating  to  her  arrival. 

He  had  also  the  pleasure  of  welcoming,  at  the  same 
time,  those  excellent  missionaries,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wade, 
who  afterwards  became  so  dear  to  him  as  personal 
friends  and  associates  in  the  mission.  Leaving  them 
for  the  present  to  acquire  the  language,  in  Rangoon, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson  immediately  took  a  boat  for  Ava, 
which  they  reached  in  safety  after  a  tedious  voyage  of 
six  weeks. 

It  was  not  without  feelings  of  anxiety  that  they  re- 


SUFFERINGS    AT   AVA.  287 

turned  to  the  capital,  for  rumors  of  a  misunderstanding 
with  England,  had  been  for  sometime  whispered  in 
Rangoon.  But  as  it  was  known  that  the  Bengal  gov- 
ernment desired  a  continuance  of  friendly  relations,  it 
was  hoped  the  difficulty  might  be  peaceably  adjusted. 
When  within  a  hundred  miles  of  Ava,  however,  they 
heard  of  the  declaration  of  war  by  the  Burmese  ;  and 
not  long  after,  met  the  then  most  celebrated  general, 
Bandoola,  "seated  in  his  golden  barge,  and  surrounded 
by  a  fleet  of  golden  war  boats,"  proceeding  with  his 
troops  down  the  river.  The  missionaries  were  hailed 
and  questioned  by  his  order;  but  on  being  informed 
that  they  were  Americans,  not  English,  and  were  going 
to  Ava  in  obedience  to  the  royal  command,  he  allowed 
them  to  continue  their  journey. 

On  their  arrival,  they  found  that  all  the  foreigners 
were,  to  some  extent,  under  suspicion  of  a  secret  con- 
nection with  the  English  government,  and  that  even 
Dr.  Price  was  out  of  favor  at  court.  Mr.  Judson's  re- 
ception, when  he  paid  his  respects  at  the  palace,  was 
very  cold  and  distant;  and  no  encouragement  was 
given  for  Mrs.  Judson  to  visit  the  queen,  though  for- 
merly her  majesty  had  expressed  great  interest  in  her 
coming.  By  other  branches  of  the  royal  family,  how- 
ever, they  were  still  treated  with  much  kindness  and 
consideration.     Under  these  circumstances  they  thought 


288  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

it  most  prudent  to  go  on  with  the  erection  of  a  house, 
on  the  spot  of  ground  given  them  last  year  by  the 
king,  and  to  prosecute  their  missionary  efforts,  as  if 
nothing  had  happened;  hoping  thus  to  convince  the 
government  that  they  had  no  concern  with  the  war. 

"  In  just  a  fortnight  from  our  arrival,"  writes  Mrs. 
Judson,  "we  moved  into  a  house  built  in  that  time, 
which  is  sufficiently  large  to  make  us  comfortable.  It 
is  in  a  most  delightful  situation,  out  of  the  dust  of  the 
town,  and  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  The  spot  given 
by  his  majesty  is  small,  being  only  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  long,  and  seventy-five  wide ;  but  it  is 
our  own,  and  is  the  most  healthy  situation  I  have 
seen.  Our  house  is  raised  four  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  consists  of  three  small  rooms  and  a  veranda." 

Here,  daily,  a  little  assembly  of  natives  gathered  at 
evening  worship,  which  was  conducted  in  Burman, 
and  every  Sabbath  Mr.  Judson  preached  the  gospel  in 
Burman,  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Price.  Mrs.  Judson  also 
commenced  a  girls'  school,  with  encouraging  prospects. 

Soon  after  vtheir  arrival,  the  court  had  removed  for  a 
short  time  to  Ummerapoora,  the  old  capital,  prepara- 
tory to  taking  formal  possession  of  the  splendid  new 
palace,  and  of  Ava  as  the  future  royal  residence.  The 
imposing  ceremony  is  thus  graphically  sketched  by 
Mrs.  Judson:  — 


SUFFERINGS    AT    AVA.  289 

"  I  dare  not  attempt  a  description  of  that  splendid  day, 
when  majesty,  with  all  its  attendant  glory,  entered  the  gates 
of  the  golden  city,  and  amid  the  aeelai nations  of  millions,  I 
may  say,  took  possession  of  the  palace.  The  saupwars  of 
the  provinces  bordering  on  China,  all  the  viceroys  ami  high 
officers  of  the  kingdom,  were  assembled  on  the  occasion, 
dressed  in  their  robes  of  state,  and  ornamented  with  tlie  in- 
signia of  their  office.  The  white  elephant,  richly  adorned 
with  gold  and  jewels,  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  objects 
in  the  procession.  The  king  and  queen  alone  were  un- 
adorned, dressed  in  the  simple  garb  of  the  country ;  they, 
hand  in  hand,  entered  the  garden  in  which  we  had  taken 
our  seats,  and  where  a  banquet  was  prepared  for  their  re- 
freshment. All  the  riehes  and  glory  of  the  empire  were  on 
this  day  exhibited  to  view.  The  number  and  immense  size 
of  the  elephants,  the  numerous  horses  and  great  variety  of 
vehicles  of  all  descriptions,  far  surpassed  any  thing  I  have 
ever  seen  or  imagined." 

An  order  was  soon  issued,  forbidding  all  foreigners, 
Mr.  Lanciego  excepted,  from  entering  the  palace.  But 
several  weeks  passed  on  without  any  further  alarm, 
during  which  they  quietly  pursued  their  missionary 
avocations  ;  and  Mr.  Judson  commenced  the  erection 
of  a  small  brick  house  for  their  accommodation  in  the 
approaching  hot  season. 

But  on  the  23d  of  March,  they  were  surprised  by 
the  news  that  Rangoon  had  been  taken  by  the  English. 
The  intelligence  produced  great  indignation  at  court  ; 
such  was  the  pride  and  self-confidence  of  the  govern- 
ment, that  the  only  fear  was,  lest  the  English  should 
19 


290  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

escape  from  Rangoon  before  the  arrival  of  the  army 
of  ten  or  twelve  thousand  men,  now  sent  down  from 
Ava. 

The  detail  of  the  succeeding  two  years  of  terror  and 
suffering,  is  best  given  in  Mrs.  Judson's  narrative,  so 
like  herself  in  its  clear,  unpretending,  animated  sim- 
plicity :  — 

"  As  soon  as  the  army  were  dispatched,  the  government 
began  to  inquire  the  cause  of  the  arrival  of  the  strangers  at 
Rangoon.  There  must  be  spies  in  the  country,  suggested 
some,  who  have  invited  them  over.  And  who  so  likely  to  be 
spies  as  the  Englishmen  residing  at  Ava  ?  A  report  was  in 
circulation  that  Captain  Laird,  lately  arrived,  had  brought 
Bengal  papers  which  contained  the  intention  of  the  English 
to  take  Rangoon,  and  it  was  kept  a  secret  from  his  majesty. 
An  inquiry  was  instituted.  The  three  Englishmen,  Gouger, 
Laird,  and  Rogers,  were  called  and  examined.  It  was  found 
they  had  seen  the  papers,  and  were  put  in  confinement, 
though  not  in  prison.  We  now  began  to  tremble  for  our- 
selves, and  were  in  daily  expectation  of^some  dreadful  event. 

"At  length  Mr.  Judson  and  Dr.  Price  were  summoned  to  a 
court  of  examination,  where  strict  inquiry  was  made  relative 
to  all  they  knew.  The  great  point  seemed  to  be  whether  they 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  making  communications  to  foreign- 
ers of  the  state  of  the  country,  &c.  They  answered  they  had 
always  written  to  their  friends  in  America,  but  had  no  corre- 
spondence with  English  officers,  or  the  Bengal  government. 
After  their  examination  they  were  not  put  in  confinement,  as 
the  Englishmen  had  been,  but  were  allowed  to  return  to  their 
houses.  In  examining  the  accounts  of  Mr.  Gouger,  it  was 
found  that  Mr.  Judson  and  Dr.  Price  had  taken  money  of 


SUFFERINGS    AT   AY  A.  291 

him  to  a  considerable  amount.  Ignorant  as  -were  the  Bur- 
mese of  our  mode  of  receiving  money  by  orders  on  Bengal, 
this  circumstance,  to  their  suspicious  minds,  was  a  sufficient 
evidence  that  the  missionaries  were  in  the  pay  of  the  Eng- 
lish, and  very  probably  spies.  It  was  thus  represented  to  the 
king,  who,  in  an  angry  tone,  ordered  the  immediate  arrest  of 
the  •  two  teachers.' 

"  On  the  8th  of  June,  just  as  we  were  preparing  for  dinner 
in  rushed  an  officer,  holding  a  black  book,  with  a  dozen  Bur- 
mans,  accompanied  by  one,  who,  from  his  spotted  face,  we 
knew  him  to  be  an  executioner,  and  a  *  son  of  the  prison.' 
4  Where  is  the  teacher?'  was  the  first  inquiry.  Mr.  Judson 
presented  himself.  'You  are  called  by  the  king,'  said  the 
officer  —  a  form  of  speech  always  used  when  about  to  arrest 
a  criminal.  The  spotted  man  instantly  seized  Mr.  Judson, 
threw  him  on  the  floor,  and  produced  the  small  cord,  the  in- 
strument of  torture.  I  caught  hold  of  his  arm.  *  Stay,'  said 
I ;  '  I  will  give  you  money.'  '  Take  her  too,'  said  the  officer; 
'she  also  is  a  foreigner.'  Mr.  Judson,  with  an  imploring 
look,  begged  they  would  let  me  remain  till  further  orders. 
The  scene  was  now  shocking  beyond  description.  The  whole 
neighborhood  had  collected ;  the  masons  at  work  on  the  brick 
house  threw  down  their  tools,  and  ran ;  the  little  Burman 
children  were  screaming  and  crying;  the  Bengalee  servants 
stood  in  amazement  at  the  indignities  offered  their  master; 
and  the  hardened  executioner,  with  a  kind  of  hellish  joy, 
drew  tight  the  cords,  bound  Mr.  Judson  fast,  and  dragged 
him  off'  I  know  not  whither.  In  vain  I  begged  and  entreated 
.the  spotted  face  to  take  the  silver,  and  loosen  the  ropes ;  but 
he  spurned  my  offers,  and  immediately  departed.  I  gave 
the  money,  however,  to  Moung  Ing  to  follow  after,  to  make 
some  further  attempt  to  mitigate  the  torture  of  Mr.  Judson  ; 
but  instead  of  succeeding,  when  a  few  rods  from  the  house, 
the  unfeeling  wretches  again  threw  their  prisoner  on  the 


292  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

ground,  and  drew  the  cords  still  tighter,'  so  as,  almost  to  pre- 
vent respiration. 

"  The  officer  and  his  gang  proceeded  on  to  the  court  house, 
where  the  governor  of  the  city  and  officers  were  collected, 
one  of  whom  read  the  order  of  the  king  to  commit  Mr.  Jud- 
son  to  the  death  prison,  into  which  he  was  soon  hurled,  the 
door  closed,  and  Moung  Ing  saw  no  more.  What  a  night 
was  now  before  me  !  I  retired  into  my  own  room,  and  en- 
deavored to  obtain  consolation  from  committing  my  case  to 
God,  and  imploring  fortitude  and  strength  to  suffer  whatever 
awaited  me.  But  the  consolation  of  retirement  was  not  long 
allowed  me,  for  the  magistrate  of  the  place  had  come  into  the 
veranda,  and  continually  called  me  to  come  out,  and  submit 
to  his  examination.  But  previously  to  going  out,  I  destroyed 
all  my  letters,  journals,  and  writings  of  every  kind,  lest  they 
should  disclose  the  fact  that  we  had  correspondents  in  Eng- 
land, and  had  minuted  down  every  occurrence  since  our 
arrival  in  the  country.  When  this  work  of  destruction  was 
finished,  I  went  out,  and  submitted  to  the  examination  of  the 
magistrate,  who  inquired  very  minutely  of  every  thing  I 
knew;  then  ordered  the  gates  of  the  compound  to  be  shut, 
no  person  to  be  allowed  to  go  in  or  out,  placed  a  guard  of 
ten  ruffians,  to  whom  he  gave  a  strict  charge  to  keep  me 
safe,  and  departed. 

"  It  was  now  dark.  I  retired  to  an  inner  room  with  my 
four  little  Burman  girls,  and  barred  the  doors.  The  guard 
instantly  ordered  me  to  unbar  the  doors  and  come  out,  or  they 
would  break  the  house  down.  I  obstinately  refused  to  obey,^ 
and  endeavored  to  intimidate  them  by  threatening  to  com- 
plain of  their  conduct  to  higher  authorities  on  the  morrow. 
Finding  me  resolved  in  disregarding  their  orders,  they  took 
the  two  Bengalee  servants,  and  confined  them  in  the  stocks 
in  a  very  painful  position.  I  could  not  endure  this,  but 
called  the  head  man  to  the  window,  and  promised  to  make 


SUFFERING 3    AT   AVA.  293 

them  all  a  present  in  the  morning,  if  they  would  release  the 
servants.  After  much  debate,  and  many  severe  threatenings, 
they  consented,  but  seemed  resolved  to  annoy  me  as  much 
as  possible.  My  unprotected,  desolate  state,  my  entire  un- 
certainty of  the  fate  of  Mr.  Judson,  and  the  dreadful  carous- 
ings  and  almost  diabolical  language  of  the  guard,  all  conspired 
to  make  it  by  far  the  most  distressing  night  I  had  ever 
passed.  You  may  well  imagine,  my  dear  brother,  that  sleep 
was  a  stranger  to  my  eyes,  and  peace  and  composure  to  my 
mind. 

"  The  next  morning,  I  sent  Moung  Ing  to  ascertain  the 
situation  of  your  brother,  and  give  him  food,  if  still  living. 
He  soon  returned,  with  the  intelligence  that  Mr.  Judson  and 
all  the  white  foreigners  were  confined  in  the  death  prison, 
with  three  pairs  of  iron  fetters  each,  and  fastened  to  a  long 
pole,  to  prevent  their  moving !  The  point  of  my  anguish 
now  was,  that  I  was  a  prisoner  myself,  and  could  make  no 
efforts  for  the  release  of  the  missionaries.  I  begged  and  cn- 
i  the  magistrate  to  allow  me  to  go  to  some  member  of 
government  to  state  my  case  ;  but  he  said  he  did  not  dare  to 
consent,  for  fear  I  should  make  my  escape.  I  next  wrote  a 
note  to  one  of  the  king's  sisters,  with  whom  I  had  been  inti- 
mate, requesting  her  to  use  her  influence  for  the  release  of 
the  teachers.  The  note  was  returned  with  this  message  : 
'she  did  not  understand  it;'  which  was  a  polite  refusal  to 
interfere ;  though  I  afterwards  ascertained  that  she  had  an 
anxious  desire  to  assist  us,  but  dared  not,  on  account  of  the 
queen.  The  day  dragged  heavily  away,  and  another  dread- 
ful night  was  before  me.  I  endeavored  to  soften  the  feelings 
of  the  guard,  by  giving  them  tea  and  cigars  for  the  night; 
so  that  they  allowed  me  to  remain  inside  of  my  room  with- 
out threatening,  as  they  did  the  night  before.  But  the  idea 
of  your  brother  being  stretched  on  the  bare  floor,  in  irons 
and  confinement,  haunted  my  mind  like  a  spectre,  and  pre- 


294  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

vented  my  obtaining  any  quiet  sleep,  though  nature  was 
almost  exhausted. 

"  On  the  third  day,  I  sent  a  message  to  the  governor  of  the 
city,  who  has  the  entire  direction  of  prison  affairs,  to  allow 
me  to  visit  him  with  a  present.  This  had  the  desired  effect, 
and  he  immediately  sent  orders  to  the  guards,  to  permit  my 
going  into  town.  The  governor  received  me  pleasantly,  and 
asked  me  what  I  wanted.  I  stated  to  him  the  situation  of 
the  foreigners,  and  particularly  that  of  the  teachers,  who 
were  Americans,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  war.  He 
told  me  that  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  release  them  from 
prison  or  irons,  but  that  he  could  make  their  situation  more 
comfortable ;  there  was  his  head  officer,  with  whom  I  must 
consult,  relative  to  the  means.  The  officer,  who  proved  to 
be  one  of  the  city  writers,  and  whose  countenance  at  the 
first  glance  presented  the  most  perfect  assemblage  of  all  the 
evil  passions  attached  to  human  nature,  took  me  aside,  and 
endeavored  to  convince  me,  that  myself,  as  well  as  the  pris- 
oners, was  entirely  at  his  disposal ;  that  our  future  comfort 
must  depend  upon  my  liberality  in  regard  to  presents ;  and 
that  these  must  be  made  in  a  private  way,  and  unknown  to 
any  officer  in  the  government !  '  What  must  I  do,'  said  I, 
'  to  obtain  a  mitigation  of  the  present  suffering  of  the  two 
teachers  ?  f  '  Pay  to  me,'  said  he,  '  two  hundred  ticals, 
[about  a  hundred  dollars,]  two  pieces  of  fine  cloth,  and  two 
pieces  of  handkerchiefs.'  I  had  taken  money  with  me  in 
the  morning ;  our  house  being  two  miles  from  the  prison,  I 
could  not  easily  return.  This  I  offered  to  the  writer,  and 
begged  he  would  not  insist  on  the  other  articles,  as  they 
were  not  in  my  possession.  He  hesitated  for  some  time  ;  but 
fearing  to  lose  sight  of  so  much  money,  he  concluded  to  take 
it,  promising  to  relieve  the  teachers  from  their  painful  situa- 
tion. 

11 1  then  procured  an  order  from  the  governor  for  my  ad- 


SUFFERINGS    AT   AVA.  295 

mittance  into  prison ;  but  the  sensations  produced  by  meet- 
ing your  brother  in  that  tcretched,  horrid  situation,  and  the 
■fleeting  scene  which  ensued,  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe. 
Mr.  Judson  crawled  to  the  door  of  the  prison,  —  for  I  was 
never  allowed  to  enter,  —  gave  me  some  directions  relative 
to  his  release ;  but  before  we  could  make  any  arrangement, 
I  was  ordered  to  depart  by  those  iron-hearted  jailers,  who 
could  not  endure  to  see  us  enjoy  the  poor  consolation  of 
meeting  in  that  miserable  place.  In  vain  I  pleaded  the  order 
from  the  governor  for  my  admittance ;  they  again  harshly  re- 
peated, '  Depart,  or  we  will  pull  you  out'  The  same  evening 
the  missionaries,  together  with  the  other  foreigners,  who  paid 
an  equal  sum,  were  taken  out  of  the  common  prison,  and 
cortfined  in  an  open  shed  in  the  prison  inclosure.  Here  I 
was  allowed  to  send  them  food,  and  mats  to  sleep  on,  but  was 
not  permitted  to  enter  again  for  several  days. 

••  My  next  object  was  to  get  a  petition  presented  to  the 
queen;  but  no  person  being  admitted  into  the  palace  who 
was  in  disgrace  with  his  majesty,  I  sought  to  present  it 
through  the  medium  of  her  brother's  wife.  I  had  visited  her 
in  better  days,  and  received  particular  marks  of  her  favor. 
But  now  times  were  altered  ;  Mr.  Judson  was  in  prison,  and 
I  in  distress,  which  was  a  sufficient  reason  forgiving  me  a  cold 
reception.  I  took  a  present  of  considerable  value.  She 
was  lolling  on  her  carpet  as  I  entered,  with  her  attendants 
around  her.  I  waited  not  for  the  usual  question  to  a  suppli- 
ant, 'What  do  you  want?'  but  in  a  bold,  earnest,  yet  re- 
spectful manner,  stated  our  distresses  and  our  wrongs,  and 
■iiiiv.  She  partly  raised  her  head,  opened 
the  present  I  had  brought,  and  cooly  replied,  'Your  case  is 
not  singular ;  all  the  foreigners  are  treated  alike.'  '  But  it 
is  singular,'  said  I ;  I  the  teachers  arc  Americans ;  they  are 
ministers  of  religion,  have  nothing  to  do  with  war  or  politics, 
and  came  to  Ava  in  obedience  to  the  king's  command.   They 


296  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

have  never  done  any  thing  to  deserve  such  treatment,  and 
is  it  right  they  should  be  treated  thus  ? '  '  The  king  does  as 
he  pleases,'  said  she  ;  'I  am  not  the  king;  what  can  I  do ?' 
*  You  can  state  their  case  to  the  queen,  and  obtain  their  re- 
lease,' replied  I.  '  Place  yourself  in  my  situation  ;  were  you  in 
America,  and  your  husband,  innocent  of  crime,  thrown  into 
prison,  in  irons,  and  you  a  solitary,  unprotected  female,  what 
would  you  do  ? '  With  a  slight  degree  of  feeling,  she  said, 
1 1  will  present  your  petition  ;  come  again  to-morrow.'  I 
returned  to  the  house  with  considerable  hope  that  the  speedy 
release  of  the  missionaries  was  at  hand.  But  the  next  day, 
Mr.  Gouger's  property,  to  the  amount  of  fifty  thousand  ru- 
pees, was  taken  and  carried  to  the  palace.  The  officers  on 
their  return,  politely  informed  me  they  should  visit  our  house 
on  the  morrow.  I  felt  obliged  for  this  information,  and  ac- 
cordingly made  preparations  to  receive  them,  by  secreting  as 
many  little  articles  as  possible,  together  with  considerable 
silver,  as  I  knew,  if  the  war  should  be  protracted,  we  should 
be  in  a  state  of  starvation  without  it.  But  my  mind  was  in 
a  dreadful  state  of  agitation,  lest  it  should  be  discovered,  and 
cause  my  being  thrown  into  prison.  And  had  it  been  possi- 
ble to  procure  money  from  any  other  quarter,  I  should  not 
have  ventured  on  such  a  step. 

"  The  following  morning,  the  royal  treasurer,  the  governor 
of  the  north  gate  of  the  palace,  who  was  in  future  our  steady 
friend,  and  another  nobleman,  attended  by  forty  or  fifty  fol- 
lowers, came  to  take  possession  of  all  we  had.  I  treated 
them  civilly,  gave  them  chairs  to  sit  on,  tea  and  sweetmeats 
for  their  refreshment ;  and  justice  obliges  me  to  say  that  they 
conducted  the  business  of  confiscation  with  more  regard  to 
my  feelings  than  I  should  have  thought  it  possible  for  Bur- 
mese officers  to  exhibit.  The  three  officers,  with  one  of  the 
royal  secretaries,  alone  entered  the  house ;  their  attendants 
were  ordered  to  remain  outside.     They  saw  I  was  deeply 


SUFFERINGS   AT   AVA.  297 

affected,  and  apologized  for  what  they  were  about  to  do  by- 
saying  that  it  was  painful  for  them  to  take  possession  of  prop- 
erty not  their  own,  but  they  were  compelled  thus  to  do  by 
order  of  the  king.  ■  Where  are  your  silver,  gold,  and  jew- 
els ? '  said  the  royal  treasurer.  '  I  have  no  gold  or  jewels ;  but 
here  is  the  key  of  a  trunk  which  contains  the  silver ;  do  with 
it  as  you  please.'  The  trunk  was  produced,  and  the  silver 
weighed.  ■  This  money,'  said  I,  4  was  collected  in  America, 
by  the  disciples  of  Christ,  and  sent  here  for  the  purpose  of 
building  a  kyoung,  [the  name  of  the  priest's  dwelling,]  and 
for  our  support  while  teaching  the  religion  of  Christ.  Is  it 
suitable  that  you  should  take  it  ? '  The  Burmans  are  averse 
to  taking  what  is  offered  in  a  religious  point  of  view,  which 
was  the  cause  of  my  making  the  inquiry.  '  We  will  state 
this  circumstance  to  the  king,'  said  one  of  them,  '  and  per- 
haps be  will  restore  it.  But  is  this  all  the  silver  you  have?' 
I  could  not  tell  a  falsehood.  •  The  house  is  in  your  possession,' 
I  replied  ;  4  seareh  for  yourselves.'  '  Have  you  not  deposited 
silver  with  some  person  of  your  acquaintance?'  'My  ac- 
quaintances are  all  in  prison;  with  whom  should  I  deposit 
silver  V  They  next  ordered  my  trunk  and  drawers  to  be 
examined.  The  secretary  only  was  allowed  to  accompany 
me  in  this  seareh.  Every  thing  nice  or  curious  which  met 
his  view  was  presented  to  the  officers,  for  their  decision 
whether  it  should  be  taken  or  retained.  I  begged  they 
would  not  take  our  wearing  apparel,  as  it  would  be  disgrace- 
ful to  take  clothes  partly  worn  into  the  possession  of  his 
majesty,  and  to  us  they  were  of  unspeakable  value.  They 
assented,  and  took  a  list  only,  and  did  the  same  with  the 
books,  medicines,  &c.  My  little  work-table  and  rocking- 
ehair,  presents  from  my  beloved  brother,  I  rescued  from 
their  grasp,  partly  by  artifice  and  partly  through  their  igno- 
They  left,  also,  many  articles  which  were  of  inesti- 
mable value  during  our  long  imprisonment. 


298  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

"As  soon  as  they  had  finished  their  search  and  departed,  I 
hastened  to  the  queen's  brother,  to  hear  what  had  been  the 
fate  of  my  petition,  when,  alas !  all  my  hopes  were  dashed  by 
his  wife's  coolly  saying,  '  I  stated  your  case  to  the  queen,  but 
her  majesty  replied,  "  The  teachers  will  not  die ;  let  them 
remain  as  they  are" '  My  expectations  had  been  so  much 
excited,  that  this  sentence  was  like  a  thunderclap  to  my  feel- 
ings. For  the  truth  at  one  glance  assured  me  that,  if  the 
queen  refused  assfstance,  who  would  dare  to  intercede  for 
me  ?  With  a  heavy  heart  I  departed,  and  on  my  way  home 
attempted  to  enter  the  prison  gate,  to  communicate  the  sad 
tidings  to  your  brother,  but  was  harshly  refused  admittance  ; 
and  for  the  ten  days  following,  notwithstanding  my  daily 
efforts,  I  was  not  allowed  to  enter.  We  attempted  to  com- 
municate by  writing,  and  after  being  successful  for  a  few 
days  it  was  discovered ;  the  poor  fellow  who  carried  the 
communications  was  beaten  and  put  in  the  stocks,  and  the 
circumstance  cost  me  about  ten  dollars,  besides  two  or  three 
days  of  agony  for  fear  of  the  consequences. 

"  The  officers  who  had  taken  possession  of  our  property 
presented  it  to  his  majesty,  saying,  '  Judson  is  a  true  teacher ; 
we  found  nothing  in  his  house  but  what  belongs  _to  priests. 
In  addition  to  this  money,  there  are  an  immense  number  of 
books,  medicines,  trunks  of  wearing  apparel,  &c,  of  which 
we  have  only  taken  a  list.  Shall  we  take  them,  or  let  them 
remain  ? '  *  Let  them  remain,'  said  the  king, '  and  put  this 
property  by  itself,  for  it  shall  be  restored  to  him  again  if  he 
is  found  innocent.'  This  was  an  allusion  to  the  idea  of  his 
being  a  spy. 

'"  For  two  or  three  months  following,  I  was  subject  to  con- 
tinual harassments,  partly  through  my  ignorance  of  police 
management,  and  partly  through  the  insatiable  desire  of 
every  petty  officer  to  enrich  himself  through  our  misfortunes. 
When  the  officers  came  to  our  house,  to  confiscate  our  prop- 


SUFFERINGS    AT    AVA.  299 

erty,  they  insisted  on  knowing  how  much  I  had  given  the 
governor  and  prison  oflicers  to  release  the  teachers  from  the 
inner  prison.  I  honestly  told  them,  and  they  demanded  the 
sum  from  the  governor,  which  threw  him  into  a  dreadful 
rage,  and  threatened  to  put  all  the  prisoners  back  into  their 
original  place.  I  went  to  him  the  next  morning,  and  the  first 
words  with  which  he  accosted  me  were,  '  You  are  very  bad ; 
why  did  you  tell  the  royal  treasurer  that  you  had  given  me 
*o  much  money  ?  '  '  The  treasurer  inquired  ;  what  could  I 
say  ?  '  I  replied.  '  Say  that  you  had  given  nothing,'  said  he, 
*  and  I  would  have  made  the  teachers  comfojrtable  in  prison  ; 
but  now  I  know  not  what  will  be  their  fate.'  '  But  I  cannot 
tell  a  falsehood,'  I  replied  ;  'my  religion  differs  from  yours; 
it  forbids  prevarication  ;  and  had  you  stood  by  me  with  your 
knife  raised,  I  could  not  have  said  what  you  suggest.'  His 
wit*>',  who  sat  by  his  side,  and  who  always,  from  this  time, 
continued  my  firm  friend,  instantly  said,  '  Very  true ;  what 
else  could  she  have  done  ?  I  like  such  straightforward  con- 
duct; you  must  not,'  turning  to  the  governor, '  be  angry  with 
her.'  I  then  presented  the  governor  with  a  beautiful  opera- 
glass  I  had  just  received  from  England,  and  begged  his  anger 
at  me  would  not  influence  him  to  treat  the  prisoners  with 
unkindness,  and  I  would  endeavor  from  time  to  time  to  make 
him  such  presents  as  would  compensate  for  his  loss.  4  You 
may  intercede  for  your  husband  only  ;  for  your  sake  he  shall 
remain  where  he  is;  but  let  the  other  prisoners  take  care 
of  themselves.'  I  pleaded  hard  for  Dr.  Price  ;  but  he  would 
not  listen,  and,  the  same  day,  had  him  returned  to  the  inner 
prison,  where  lie  remained  ten  days.  He  was  then  taken 
out,  in  consequence  of  the  doctor's  promising  a  piece  of 
broadcloth,  and  my  Bending  two  pieces  of  handkerchiefs. 

"About  this  period,  I  was  one  day  summoned  to  the  Lut- 
d'hau,  in  an  official  way.  What  new  evil  was  before  me  I 
knew  not,  but  was  obliged  to  go.     When  arrived,  I  was  al- 


300  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

lowed  to  stand  at  the  bottom  of  the  stairs,  as  no  female  is 
permitted  to  ascend  the  steps,  or  even  to  stand,  but  sit  on 
the  ground.  Hundreds  were  collected  around.  The  officer 
who  presided,  in  an  authoritative  voice,  began :  '  Speak  the 
truth  in  answer  to  the  questions  I  shall  ask.  If  you  speak 
true,  no  evil  will  follow  ;  but  if  not,  your  life  will  not  be 
spared.  It  is  reported  that  you  have  committed  to  the  care 
of  a  Burmese  officer  a  string  of  pearls,  a  pair  of  diamond  ear- 
rings, and  a  silver  teapot.  Is  it  true  ? '  '  It  is  not/  I  replied ; 
'  and  if  you  or  any  other  person  can  produce  these  articles,  I 
refuse  not  to  die.'  The  officer  again  urged  the  necessity  of 
'  speaking  true.'  I  told  him  I  had  nothing  more  to  say  on 
the  subject,  but  begged  he  would  use  his  influence  to  obtain 
the  release  of  Mr.  Judson  from  prison. 

"  I  returned  to  the  house  with  a  heart  much  lighter  than  I 
went,  though  conscious  of  my  perpetual  exposure  to  such 
harassments.  Notwithstanding  the  repulse  I  had  met  in  my 
application  to  the  queen,  I  could  not  remain  without  making 
continual  effort  for  your  brother's  release,  while  there  was 
the  least  probability  of  success.  Time  after  time,  my  visits 
to  the  queen's  sister-in-law  were  repeated,  till  she  refused  to 
answer  a  question,  and  told  me  by  her  looks  I  had  better 
keep  out  of  her  presence.  For  the  seven  following  months, 
hardly  a  day  passed  that  I  did  not  visit  some  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  government,  or  branches  of  the  royal  family,  in  order 
to  gain  their  influence  in  our  behalf;  but  the  only  benefit 
resulting  was,  their  encouraging  promises  preserved  us  from 
despair,  and  induced  a  hope  of  the  speedy  termination  of  our 
difficulties,  which  enabled  us  to  bear  our  distresses  better  than 
we  otherwise  should  have  done.  I  ought,  however,  to  men- 
tion that,  by  my  repeated  visits  to  the  diiferent  members  of 
government,  I  gained  several  friends,  who  were  ready  to 
assist  me  with  articles  of  food,  though  in  a  private  manner, 
and  who  used  their  influence  in  the  palace  to  destroy  the 


SUFFERINGS    AT    AVA.  301 

impression  of  our  being  in  any  way  engaged  in  the  present 
war.  Bnt  no  one  dared  to  speak  a  word  to  the  king  or  queen 
in  favor  of  a  foreigner,  while  there  were  such  continual  re- 
ports of  the  success  of  the  English  arms. 

"  During  these  seven  months,  the  continual  extortions  and 
oppressions  to  which  your  brother  and  the  other  white  pris- 
oners were  subject  are  indescribable.  Sometimes  sums  of 
money  were  demanded,  sometimes  pieces  of  cloth,  and  hand- 
kerchiefs ;  at  other  times  an  order  would  be  issued  that  the 
white  foreigners  should  not  speak  to  each  other,  or  have  any 
communication  with  their  friends  without.  Then,  again,  the 
servants  were  forbidden  to  carry  in  their  food  without  an 
extra  fee.  Sometimes,  for  days  and  days  together,  I  could  not 
go  into  the  prison  till  after  dark,  when  I  had  two  miles  to  walk 
in  returning  to  the  house.  O,  how  many,  many  times  have 
I  returned  from  that  dreary  prison  at  nine  o'clock  at  night, 
solitary,  and  worn  out  with  fatigue  and  anxiety,  and  thrown 
myself  down  in  that  same  rocking-chair  which  you  and  Dea- 
con L.  provided  for  me  in  Boston,  and  endeavored  to  invent 
some  new  scheme  for  the  release  of  the  prisoners.  Some- 
times, for  a  moment  or  two,  my  thoughts  would  glance  to- 
wards America,  and  my  beloved  friends  there  ;  but  for  nearly 
a  year  and  a  half,  so  entirely  engrossed  was  every  thought 
with  present  scenes  and  sufferings,  that  I  seldom  reflected 
on  a  -ingle  occurrence  of  my  former  life,  or  recollected  that 
I  had  a  friend  in  existence  out  of  Ava. 

"  You,  my  dear  brother,  who  know  my  strong  attachment 
to  my  friends,  and  how  much  pleasure  I  have  liitherto  expe- 
rienced from  retrospect,  can  judge  from  the  above  cir- 
cumstances how  intense  were  my  sufferings.  But  the  point, 
me  <»(*  my  distress,  consisted  in  the  awful  uncertainty  of 
our  final  fate.  My  prevailing  opinion  was,  that  my  husband 
would  suffer  violent  death,  and  that  I  should,  of  course,  be- 
come a  slave,  and  languish  out  a  miserable,  though  short  ex- 


302  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

istence,  in  the  tyrannic  hands  of  some  unfeeling  monster. 
But  the  consolations  of  religion,  in  these  trying  circumstances, 
were  neither  '  few  nor  small.'  It  taught  me  to  look  beyond 
this  world,  to  that  rest,  that  peaceful,  happy  rest,  where  Jesus 
reigns,  and  oppression  never  enters.  But  how  have  I 
digressed  from  my  relation  !     I  will  again  return. 

"  The  war  was  now  prosecuted  with  all  the  energy  the 
Burmese  government  possessed.  New  troops  were  continu- 
ally raised  and  sent  down  the  river,  and  as  frequent  reports 
returned  of  their  being  all  cut  off.  But  that  part  of  the  Bur- 
mese army  stationed  in  Arracan,  under  the  command  of  Ban- 
doola,  had  been  more  successful.  Three  hundred  prisoners, 
at  one  time,  were  sent  to  the  capital,  as  an  evidence  of  the 
victory  that  had  been  gained.  The  king  began  to  think  that 
none  but  Bandoola  understood  the  art  of  fighting  with  for- 
eigners ;  consequently,  his  majesty  recalled  him,  with  the 
design  of  his  taking  command  of  the  army  that  had  been  sent 
to  Rangoon.  On  his  arrival  at  Ava,  he  was  received  at  court 
in  the  most  ilattering  manner,  and  was  the  recipient  of  every 
favor  in  the  power  of  the  king  and  queen  to  bestow.  He 
was,  in  fact,  while  at  Ava,  the  acting  king.  I  was  resolved  to 
apply  to  him  for  the  release  of  the  missionaries,  though  some 
members  of  government  advised  me  not,  lest  he,  being  re- 
minded of  their  existence,  should  issue  an  immediate  order 
for  their  execution.  But  it  was  my  last  hope,  and,  as  it 
proved,  my  last  application. 

"  Your  brother  wrote  a  petition  privately,  stating  every  cir- 
cumstance that  would  have  a  tendency  to  interest  him  in  our 
behalf.  With  fear  and  trembling  I  approached  him,  while 
surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  flatterers ;  and  one  of  his  secreta- 
ries took  the  petition,  and  read  it  aloud.  After  hearing  it, 
he  spoke  to  me  in  an  obliging  manner,  asked  several  ques- 
tions relative  to  the  teachers,  vsaid  he  would  think  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  bade  me  come  again.    I  ran  to  the  prison  to  com- 


SUFFERINGS    AT   AVA.  303 

municate  the  favorable  reception  to  Mr.  Judson ;  and  we 
both  had  sanguine  hopes  that  his  release  was  at  hand.  But 
the  governor  of  the  city  expressed  his  amazement  at  my 
temerity,  and  said  he  doubted  not  it  would  be  the  means  of 
destroying  all  the  prisoners.  In  a  day  or  two,  however,  I 
went  again,  and  took  a  present  of  considerable  value.  Ban- 
doola  was  not  at  home  ;  but  his  lady,  after  ordering  the  pres- 
ent to  be  taken  into  another  room,  modestly -informed  me 
that  she  was  ordered  by  her  husband  to  make  the  following 
communication:  that  he  was  now  very  busily  employed  in 
making  preparations  for  Rangoon  ;  but  that  when  he  had  re- 
taken that  place,  and  expelled  the  English,  he  would  return 
and  release  all  the  prisoners. 

4*  Thus,  again,  were  all  our  hopes  dashed  ;  and  we  felt  that 
we  could  do  nothing  more,  but  sit  down  and  submit  to  our 
lot.  From  this  time  we  gave  up  all  idea  of  being  released 
from  prison  till  the  termination  of  the  war;  but  I  was  still 
obliged  to  visit  constantly  some  of  the  members  of  govern- 
ment, with  little  presents,  particularly  the  governor  of  the 
city,  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  situation  of  the  prisoners 
tolerable.  I  generally  spent  the  greater  part  of  every  other 
day  at  the  governor's  house,  giving  him  minute  information 
relative  to  American  manners,  customs,  government,  &c. 
He  used  to  be  so  much  gratified  with  my  communications,  as 
to  feel  greatly  disappointed  if  any  occurrence  prevented  my 
spending  the  usual  hours  at  his  house. 

"  Some  months  after  your  brother's  imprisonment,  I  was 
permitted  to  make  a  little  bamboo  room  in  the  prison  inclos- 
ure,  where  he  could  be  much  by  himself,  and  where  I  was 
sometimes  allowed  to  spend  two  or  three  hours.  It  so  hap- 
pened, that  the  two  months  he  occupied  this  place,  were  the 
coldest  of  the  year,  when  he  would  have  suffered  much  in 
the  open  shed  he  had  previously  occupied.  After  the  birth 
of  your  little  niece,  I  was  unable  to  visit  the  prison  and  the 


304  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

governor  as  before,  and  found  I  had  lost  considerable  influ- 
ence, previously  gained ;  for  he  was  not  so  forward  to  hear 
my  petitions,  when  any  difficulty  occurred,  as  he  formerly 
had  been.  When  Maria  was  nearly  two  months  old,  her 
father  one  morning  sent  me  word  that  he  and  all  the  white 
prisoners  were  put  into  the  inner  prison,  in  five  pairs  of  fet- 
ters each ;  that  his  little  room  had  been  torn  down,  and  his 
mat,  pillow,  &c,  been  taken  by  the  jailers.  This  was  to  me 
a  dreadful  shock,  as  I  thought  at  once  it  was  only  a  prelude 
to  greater  evils. 

"  I  should  have  mentioned  before  this  the  defeat  of  Ban- 
doola,  his  escape  to  Dan-a-byoo,  the  complete  destruction  of 
his  army,  and  loss  of  ammunition,  and  the  consternation  this 
intelligence  produced  at  court.  The  English  army  had  left 
Rangoon,  and  were  advancing  towards  Prome,  when  these 
severe  measures  were  taken  with  the  prisoners. 

"  I  went  immediately  to  the  governor's  house.  He  was 
not  at  home,  but  had  ordered  his  wife  to  tell  me,  when  I 
came,  not  to  ask  to  have  the  additional  fetters  taken  off,  or 
the  prisoners  released,  for  it  could  not  be  done.  I  went  to 
the  prison  gate,  but  was  forbidden  to  enter.  All  was  as  still  as 
death  —  not  a  white  face  to  be  seen,  or  a  vestige  of  Mr.  Jud- 
son's  little  room  remaining.  I  was  determined  to  see  the 
governor,  and  know  the  cause  of  this  additional  oppression ; 
and  for  this  purpose  returned  into  town  the  same  evening, 
at  an  hour  I  knew  he  would  be  at  home.  He  was  in  his 
audience-room,  and,  as  I  entered,  looked  up  without  speak- 
ing, but  exhibited  a  mixture  of  shame  and  affected  anger  in 
his  countenance.  I  began  by  saying :  '  Your  lordship  has 
hitherto  treated  us  with  the  kindness  of  a  father.  Our  obli- 
gations to  you  are  very  great.  We  have  looked  to  you  for 
protection  from  oppression  and  cruelty.  You  have  in  many 
instances  mitigated  the  sufferings  of  those  unfortunate  though 
innocent  beings  committed  to  your  charge.    You  have  prom- 


SUFFERINGS    AT    AVA.  305 

ised  me  particularly  that  you  would  stand  by  me  to  the  last ; 
and  though  you  should  receive  an  order  from  the  king,  you 
would  not  put  Mr.  Judson  to  death.  What  crime  has  he 
committed  to  deserve  such  additional  punishment?'  The 
old  man's  hard  heart  was  melted,  for  he  wept  like  a  child.  '  I 
pity  you,  Tsa-yah-ga-dau ' — a  name  by  which  he  always 
called  me  ;  4 1  knew  you  would  make  me  feel :  I  therefore 
forbade  your  application.  But  you  must  believe  me  when  I 
say  I  do  not  wish  to  increase  the  sufferings  of  the  prisoners. 
When  I  am  ordered  to  execute  them,  the  least  that  I  can  do 
is,  to  put  them  out  of  sight.  I  will  now  tell  you,'  continued 
he,  ■  what  I  have  never  told  you  before,  —  that  three  times  I 
have  received  intimations  from  the  queen's  brother  to  assas- 
sinate all  the  white  prisoners  privately;  but  I  would  not  do 
it.  And  I  now  repeat  it,  though  I  execute  all  the  others,  I 
will  never  execute  your  husband.  But  I  cannot  release  him 
from  his  present  confinement,  and  you  must  not  ask  it.'  I 
had  never  seen  him  manifest  so  much  feeling,  or  so  resolute 
in  denying  me  a  favor,  which  circumstance  was  an  additional 
reason  for  thinking  dreadful  scenes  were  before  us. 

u  The  situation  of  the  prisoners  was  now  distressing  be- 
yond description.  It  was  at  the  commencement  of  the  hot 
season.  There  Were  above  a  hundred  prisoners  shut  up  in 
one  room,  without  a  breath  of  air  excepting  from  the  cracks 
in  the  boards.  I  sometimes  obtained  permission  to  go  to  the 
door  for  five  minutes,  when  my  heart  sickened  at  the  wretch- 
edness exhibited.  The  white  prisoners,  from  incessant  per- 
spiration and  loss  of  appetite,  looked  more  like  the  dead  than 
the  living.  I  made  daily  applications  to  the  governor,  offer- 
ing him  money,  which  he  refused ;  but  all  that  I  gained  was 
permission  for  the  foreigners  to  eat  their  food  outside,  and 
this  continued  but  a  short  time. 

"  It  was  at  this  period  that  the  death  of  Bandoola  was  an- 
nounced in  the  palace.  The  king  heard  it  with  silent  amaze- 
20 


306  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

ment,  and  the  queen,  in  eastern  style,  smote  upon  her  breast, 
and  cried  :  'Ama !  ama  ! <  (alas !  alas !)  Who  could  be  found 
to  fill  his  place  ?  Who  would  venture,  since  the  invincible 
Bandoola  had  been  cut  off?  Such  were  the  exclamations 
constantly  heard  in  the  streets  of  Ava.  The  common  people 
were  speaking  low  of  a  rebellion,  in  case  more  troops  should 
be  levied.  For,  as  yet,  the  common  people  had  borne  the 
weight  of  the  war ;  not  a  tical  had  been  taken  from  the  roy- 
al treasury.  At  length  the  pakan  woon,  who  a  few  months 
before  had  been  so  far  disgraced  by  the  king,  as  to  be 
thrown  into  prison  and  irons,  now  offered  himself  to  head  a 
new  army  that  should  be  raised  on  a  different  plan  from 
those  which  had  hitherto  been  raised,  and  assured  the  king, 
in  the  most  confident  manner,  that  he  would  conquer  the 
English,  and  restore  those  places  that  had  been  taken,  in  a 
very  short  time.  He  proposed  that  every  soldier  should  re- 
ceive a  hundred  ticals  in  advance,  and  he  would  obtain 
security  for  each  man,  as  the  money  was  to  pass  through  his 
hands.  It  was  afterwards  found  that  he  had  taken,  for  his 
own  use,  ten  ticals  from  every  hundred.  He  was  a  man  of 
enterprise  and  talents,  though  a  violent  enemy  to  all  foreign- 
ers. His  offers  were  accepted  by  the  king  and  government, 
and  all  power  immediately  committed  to  him.  One  of  the 
first  exercises  of  his  power  was,  to  arrest  Lanciego  and  the 
Portuguese  priest,  who  had  hitherto  remained  unmolested, 
and  cast  them  into  prison,  and  to  subject  the  native  Portu- 
guese and  Bengalees  to  the  most  menial  occupations.  The 
whole  town  was  in  alarm,  lest  they  should  feel  the  effects  of 
his  power  ;  and  it  was  owing  to  the  malignant  representations 
of  this  man,  that  the  white  prisoners  suffered  such  a  change 
in  their  circumstances  as  I  shall  soon  relate. 

"After  continuing  in  the  inner  prison  for  more  than  a 
month,  your  brother  was  taken  with  a  fever.  I  felt  assured 
he  would  not  live  long,  unless  removed  from  that  noisome 


SUFFERINGS   AT   AVA.  307 

place.  To  effect  this,  and  in  order  to  be  near  the  prison,  I 
removed  from  our  house,  and  put  up  a  small  bamboo  room  in 
the  governor's  inelosure,  which  was  nearly  opposite  the 
prison  gate.  Bere  I  incessantly  begged  the  governor  to  give 
m<-  an  order  to  take  Mr.  Judson  out  of  the  large  prison,  and 
place  him  in  a  more  comfortable  situation;  and  the  old  man, 
being  worn  out  with  my  entreaties,  at  length  gave  me  the 
order  in  an  Official  form,  and  also  gave  orders  to  the  head 
jailer  to  allow  me  to  go  in  and  out,  all  times  of  the  day,  to 
administer  medicines,  &<■.  I  now  felt  happy  indeed,  and  had 
Mr.  Jud-on  instantly  removed  into  a  little,  bamboo  hovel,  so 
low  that  neither  of  us  could  stand  upright —  but  a  palace  in 
companion  with  the  place  he  had  left. 

M  Notwithstanding  the  order  the  governor  had  given  for 
my  admittance  into  prison,  it  was  with  the  greatest  diflieulty 
that  I  could  persuade  the  under  jailer  to  open  the  gate.  I 
0  earn  Mr;  Judson's  food  myself,  for  the  sake  of  getting 
in,  and  wonld  then  remain  an  hour  or  two,  unless  driven  out. 
We  had  been  in  this  comfortable  situation  but  two  or  three 
days,  until,  one  morning,  having  carried  in  Mr.  Judson's 
breakfast,  which,  in  consequence  of  fever,  he  was  unable  to 
take,  I  remained  lunger  than  usual,  when  the  governor,  in 
great  haste,  sent  tor  me.  I  promised  to  return  as  soon  as  I 
had  ascertained  the  governor's  will,  he  being  much  alarmed 
at  this  annsaal  message.  I  was  very  agreeably  disappointed 
when  the  governor  informed  me  that  he  only  wished  to  con- 
sult me  about  his  watch,  and  seemed  unusually  pleasant  and 
conversable.  I  found  afterwards  that  his  only  object  was  to 
detain  me  until  the  dreadful  scene  about  to  take  place  in  the 
prison  was  over.  For  when  I  left  him  to  go  to  my  room, 
one  of  the  servants  came  running,  and,  with  a  ghastly  coun- 
tenance, informed  me.  that  all  the  white  prisoners  were  car- 
ried away.  I  would  not  believe  the  report,  and  instantly 
went  back  to  the  governor,  who  said  he  had  just  heard  of  it, 


308 


THE    EARNEST    MAN. 


but  did  not  wish  to  tell  me.     I  hastily  ran  into  the  street, 
hoping  to  get  a  glimpse  of  them  before  they  were  out  of 
sight,  but  in  this  was   disappointed.     I  ran    first   into   one 
street,  then  another,  inquiring  of  all  I  met;  but  no  one  would 
answer  me.     At  length  an  old  woman  told  me  the  white 
prisoners  had  gone  towards  the  little  river;  for  they  were  to 
be  carried  to  Amarapoora.     I  then  ran  to  the  banks  of  the 
#  little  river,  about  half  a  mile,  but  saw  them  not,  and  con- 
cluded the  old  woman  had  deceived  me.    Some  of  the  friends 
of  the  foreigners  went  to  the  place  of  execution,  but  found 
them  not.   I  then  returned  to  the  governor,  to  try  to  discover 
the  cause  of  their  removal,  and  the  probability  of  their  fu- 
ture fate.     The  old  man  assured  me  that  he  was  ignorant  of 
the  intention  of  government  to  remove  the   foreigners   till 
that  morning;  that,  since  I  went  out,  he  had  learned  that  the 
prisoners  were  to  be  sent  to  Amarapoora,  but  for  what  pur- 
pose-he knew  not.     'I  will  send  off" a  man  immediately,'  said 
"  he,  '  to  see  what  is  to  be  done  with  them.     You  can  do  noth- 
ing more  for  your  husband,'  continued  he ;  '  take  care  of 
yourself'     With  a  heavy  heart  I  went  to  my  room,  and  hav- 
ing no  hope  to  excite  me  to  exertion,  I  sank  down  almost  in 
despair.     For  several  days  previous,  I  had  been  actively  en- 
gaged in  building  my  own  little  room,  and  making  our  hovel 
comfortable.     My  thoughts  had  been  almost  entirely  occu- 
pied in  contriving  means  to  get  into  prison.     But  now,  I 
looked  towards  the  gate  with  a  kind  of  melancholy  feeling, 
but  no  wish  to  enter.     All  was  the  stillness  of  death ;  no 
preparation  of  your  brother's  food ;  no  expectation  of  meet- 
ing him  at  the  usual  dinner  hour ;  all  my  employment,  all 
my  occupations,  seemed  to  have  ceased,  and  I  had  nothing 
left  but  the  dreadful  recollection  that  Mr.  Judson  was  carried 
off,  I  knew  not  whither.     It  was  one  of  the  most  insupport- 
able days  I  ever  passed.    Towards  night,  however,  I  came  to 
the  determination  to  set  off  the  next  morning  for  Amara- 


SUFFERINGS   AT  AVA.  309 

poora,  and  for  this  purpose  was  obliged  to  go  to  our  house 
out  of  town. 

\  er  before  had  I  suffered  so  much  from  fear  in  trav- 
ersing the  streets  of  Ava.  The  last  words  of  the  governor, 
care  of  yourself,'  made  me  suspect  there  was  some 
design  with  which  I  was  unacquainted.  I  saw,  also,  he  was 
afraid  to  have  me  go  into  the  streets,  and  advised  me  to  wait 
till  dark,  when  he  would  send  me  in  a  cart,  and  a  man  to 
open  t  .  I  took  two  or  three  trunks  of  the  most  val- 

uable article.-,  together  with  the  medicine  chest,  to  deposit  in 
the  house  of  the  governor ;  and  after  committing  the  house 
and  prnnises  to  our  laithful  Moung  Ing  and  a  Bengalee  ser- 
vant, who  continued  with  us,  though  we  were  unable  to  pay 
I  took  leave,  as  1  then  thought  probable,  of  our 
house  in  Ava  ibrewr. 

44  On  mv  return  to  the  governor's,  I  found  a  servant  of  Mr. 
«  ,  who  happened  to  be  near  the  prison  when  the  ibr- 

were  led  out,  and  followed  on  to  see  the  end,  who 
informed  me  that  the  prisoners  had  been  carried  before  the 
laniiiic-woon,  at  Aniarapoora,  and  were  to  be  sent  the  next 
day  to  a  village  he  knew  not  how  tar  distant.  My  distress 
was  a  little  relieved  by  the  intelligence  that  our  friend  was 
yet  aUve  ;  but  still  I  kuew  not  what  was  to  become  of  him. 
The  next  morning  I  obtained  a  pass  from  government,  and, 
with  mv  little  Maria,  who  was  then  only  three  months  old, 
Mary  and  Abby  Ilasseltine,  two  of  the  Burnian  children,  and 
our  Bengalee  cook,  who  was  the  only  one  of  the  party  that 
could  afford  me  any  assistance,  I  set  off  for  Aniarapoora. 
The  day  was  dreadfully  hot;  but  we  obtained  a  covered 
boat,  in  which  we  were  tolerably  comfortable,  till  within  two 
miles  of  the  government  house.  I  then  procured  a  cart;  but 
the  violent  motion,  together  with  the  dreadful  heat  and  dust, 
made  me  almost  distracted.  But  what  was  my  disappoint- 
ment, on  my  arriving  at  the  court  house,  to  find  that  the  pris- 


310  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

soners  had  been  sent  on  two  hours  before,  and  that  I  must  go 
in  that  uncomfortable  mode,  four  miles  further,  -with  little 
Maria  in  my  arms,  whom  I  held  all  the  way  from  Ava.  The 
cartman  refused  to  go  any  further ;  and,  after  waiting  an 
hour  in  the  burning  sun,  I  procured  another,  and  set  off  for 
that  never-to-be-forgotten  place,  Oung-pen-la.  I  obtained  a 
guide  from  the  governor,  and  was  conducted  directly  to  the 
prison  yard.  But  what  a  scene  of  wretchedness  was  pre- 
sented to  my  view  !  The  prison  was  an  old,  shattered  build- 
ing, without  a  roof;  the  fence  was  entirely  destroyed ;  eight 
or  ten  Burmese  were  on  the  top  of  the  building,  trying  to 
make  something  like  a  shelter  with  leaves;  while  under  a 
little  low  projection  outside  of  the  prison,  sat  the  foreigners, 
chained  together  two  and  two,  almost  dead  with  suffering  and 
fatigue.  The  first  words  of  your  brother  were  :  '  Why  have 
you  come  ?  I  hoped  you  would  not  follow,  for  you  cannot 
live  here.'  It  was  now  dark.  I  had  no  refreshment  for  the 
suffering  prisoners,  or  for  myself,  as  I  had  expected  to  pro- 
cure all  that  was  necessary  at  the  market  of  Amarapoora ; 
and  I  had  no  shelter  for  the  night.  I  asked  one  of  the  jail- 
ers if  I  might  put  up  a  little  bamboo  house  near  the  prison. 
He  said  no,  it  was  not  customary.  I  then  begged  he  would 
procure  me  a  shelter  for  the  night,  when,  on  the  morrow,  I 
could  find  some  place  to  live  in.  He  took  me  to  his  house, 
in  which  there  were  only  two  small  rooms ;  one  in  which  he 
and  his  family  lived ;  the  other,  which  was  then  half  full  of 
grain,  he  offered  to  me  ;  and  in  that  little  filthy  place,  I  spent 
the  next  six  months  of  wretchedness.  I  procured  some  half- 
boiled  water,  instead  of  my  tea,  and,  worn  out  with  fatigue, 
laid  myself  down  on  a  mat  spread  over  the  paddy,  and  en- 
deavored to  obtain  a  little  refreshment  from  sleep.  The  next 
morning  your  brother  gave  me  the  following  account  of  the 
brutal  treatment  he  had  received  on  being  taken  out  of 
prison. 


SUFFERINGS    AT    AVA.  311 

"As  soon  as  I  had  pone  out  at  the  call  of  the  governor, 
one  of  the  jailors  rushed  into  Mr.  Judson's  little  room,  rough* 
ly  seized  him  by  the  arm,  pulled  him  out,  stripped  him  of  all 
his  clothes  excepting  shirt  and  pantaloons,  took  his  shoes,  hat, 
and  all  his  bedding,  tore  off  his  chains,  tied  a  rope  round  his 
waist,  and  dragged  him  to  the  court  house,  where  the  other 
prisoners  had  previously  been  taken.  They  were  then  tied 
two  and  two,  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  lamine- 
woon,  who  went  on  before  them  on  horseback,  while  his 
1 1  rove  the  prisoners,  one  of  the  slaves  holding  the  rope 
which  connected  two  of  them  together.  It  was  in  May,  one 
of  the  hottest  months  in  the  year,  and  eleven  o'clock  in  the 
day,  so  that  the  sun  was  intolerable  indeed.  They  had  pro- 
ceeded only  half  a  mile,  when  your  brother's  feet  became 
blistered ;  and  so  great  was  his  agony,  even  at  this  early 
period,  that  M  they  were  crossing  the  little  river,  he  ardently 
lofegfed  to  throw  himself  into  the  water,  to  be  free  from  mis- 
ery. But  the  sin  attached  to  such  an  act  alone  prevented. 
They  had  then  eight  miles  to  walk.  The  sand  and  gravel 
were  like  burning  coals  to  the  feet  of  the  prisoners,  which 
soon  became  perfectly  destitute  of  skin ;  and  in  this  wretch- 
ed state  they  were  goaded  on  by  their  unfeeling  drivers. 
Mr.  Judson's  debilitated  state,  in  consequence  of  fever,  and 
having  taken  no  food  that  morning,  rendered  him  less  capa- 
ble of  bearing  such  hardships  than  the  other  prisoners. 
When  about  half  way  on  their  journey,  as  they  stopped  for 
water,  your  brother  begged  the  laminc-woon  to  allow  him  to 
ride  his  horse  a  mile  or  two,  as  he  could  proceed  no  further 
in  that  dreadful  state.  But  a  scornful,  malignant  look  was 
all  the  reply  that  was  made,  lie  then  requested  Captain 
Laird,  who  was  tied  with  him,  and  who  was  a  strong,  healthy 
man,  to  allow  him  to  take  hold  of  his  shoulder,  as  he  was  fast 
sinking.  This  the  kind-hearted  man  granted  for  a  mile  or 
two,  but  then  found  the  additional  burden  insupportable. 


312  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

Just  at  that  period,  Mr.  Gouger's  Bengalee  servant  came  up 
to  them,  and,  seeing  the  distresses  of  your  brother,  took  off 
his  head-dress,  which  was  made  of  cloth,  tore  it  in  two,  gave 
half  to  his  master,  and  half  to  Mr.  Judson,  which  he  instant- 
ly wrapped  round  his  wounded  feet,  as  they  were  not  al- 
lowed to  rest  even  for  a  moment.  The  servant  then  offered 
his  shoulder  to  Mr.  Judson,  who  was  almost  carried  by  him 
the  remainder  of  the  way.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  support 
and  assistance  of  this  man,  your  brother  thinks  he  should 
have  shared  the  fate  of  the  poor  Greek,  who  was  one  of  their 
number,  and,  when  taken  out  of  prison  that  morning,  was 
in  perfect  health.  But  he  was  a  corpulent  man,  and  the  sun 
affected  him  so  much,  that  he  fell  down  on  the  way.  His  in- 
human drivers  beat  and  dragged  him  until  they  themselves 
were  wearied,  when  they  procured  a  cart,  in  which  he  was 
carried  the  remaining  two  miles.  But  the  poor  creature  ex- 
pired in  an  hour  or  two  after  their  arrival  at  the  court  house. 
The  lamine-woon,  seeing  the  distressing  state  of  the  prison- 
ers, and  that  one  of  their  number  was  dead,  concluded  they 
should  go  no  further  that  night;  otherwise  they  would  have 
been  driven  on  until  they  reached  Oung-pen-la  the  same 
day.  An  old  shed  was  appointed  for  their  abode  during  the 
night,  but  without  even  a  mat  or  pillow,  or  any  thing  to  cover 
them.  The  curiosity  of  the  lamine-woon's  wife  induced  her 
to  make  a  visit  to  the  prisoners,  whose  wretchedness  consid- 
erably excited  her  compassion,  and  she  ordered  some  fruit, 
sugar,  and  tamarinds  for  their  refreshment ;  and  the  next 
morning  rice  was  prepared  for  them,  and,  poor  as  it  was,  it 
was  refreshing  to  the  prisoners,  who  had  been  almost  desti- 
tute of  food  the  day  before.  Carts  were  also  provided  for 
their  conveyance,  as  none  of  them  were  able  to  walk.  All 
this  time,  the  foreigners  were  entirely  ignorant  of  what  was 
to  become  of  them  ;  and  when  they  arrived  at  Oung-pen-la, 
and  saw  the  dilapidated  state  of  the  prison,  they  immediately, 


SUFFERINGS    AT    AVA.  313 

all  as  one,  concluded  that  they  were  there  to  be  burned, 
\JtAj  to  the  report  which  had  previously  been  in  circu- 
lation at  Ava.  They  all  endeavored  to  prepare  themselves 
tor  the  awful  soeme  anticipated  rand  it  was  not  until  they 
saw  preparations  making  for  repairing  the  prison,  that  they 
had  the  least  doubt  that  a  cruel,  lingering  death  awaited 
them.     My  arrival  was  in  an  hour  or  two  after  this. 

"  Tin-  next  moming,  I  arose,  and  endeavored  to  find  some- 
thing like  food.     But  there  was  no  market,  and  nothing  to 
be  procured.     One  of  Dr.  Price's  friends,  however,  brought 
old  rke  and  vegetable  curry  from  Amarapoora,  which, 
•r  with  a  cup  of  tea  from  Mr.  Lanciego,  answered  for 
the  breakfast  of  the  prisoners;  and   lor  dinner  we  made  a 
curry  of  dried  salt  fish,  which  a  servant  of  Mr.  (iougcr  had 
brought     All   the   money  I  could  command  in   the  world  I 
night  with  me,  secreted  alniut  my  person ;  so  you  may 
what  our  prospects  were,  in  case  the  war  should  con- 
tinue long.     But  our  heavenly  Father  was  better  to  us  than 
our  fears;  for,  notwithstanding  the  constant  extortions  of  the 
jailers  during  the  whole  six  months  we  were  at  Oung-pen-la, 
and  the  frequent  straits  to  which  we  were  brought,  we  never 
really ^ullered  lor  the  want  of  money,  though  frequently  for 
of  provisions,  which  were  not  procurable.     Here  at 
this  place  my  personal  bodily  sufferings  commenced.     While 
your   brother   was  confined  in   the  city  prison,  I  had  been 
allowed  to  remain  in  our  house,  in  which  I  had  my  cdnven- 
left,  and  my   health  had  continued  good  beyond  all 
expectations.     But  now  I  had  not  a  single  article  of  conven- 
ience —  not  even  a  chair  or  a  seat  of  any  kind,  excepting  a 
bamboo  floor.     The   very  morning  after   my  arrival,  Mary 
sine  was  taken  wi;h   the  smallpox,  the  natural  way. 
She,  though  \cry  young,  was  the  only  assistant  T  had  in  tak- 
;e  of  little  Maria.     But  she  now  required  all  the  time 
I  could  spare  from  Mr.  Judson,  whose  fever  still  continued, 


314  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

in  prison,  and  whose  feet  were  so  dreadfully  mangled  that 
for  several  days  he  was  unable  to  move.  I  knew  not  what 
to  do,  for  I  could  procure  no  assistance  from  the  neighbor- 
hood, or  medicine  for  the  sufferers,  but  was  all  day  long 
going  backwards  and  forwards  from  the  house  to  the  prison 
with  little  Maria  in  my  arms.  Sometimes  I  was  greatly  re- 
lieved by  leaving  her  for  an  hour,  when  asleep,  by  the  side 
of  her  father,  while  I  returned  to  the  house  to  look  after 
Mary,  whose  fever  ran  so  high  as  to  produce  delirium.  She 
was  so  completely  covered  with  the  smallpox,  that  there 
was  no  distinction  in  the  pustules.  As  she  was  in  the  same 
little  room  with  myself,  I  knew  Maria  would  take  it ;  I  there- 
fore inoculated  her  from  another  child,  before  Mary's  had 
arrived  at  such  a  state  as  to  be  infectious.  At  the  same  time, 
I  inoculated  Abby  and  the  jailer's  children,  who  all  had  it  so 
lightly  as  hardly  to  interrupt  their  play.  But  the  inoculation 
in  the  arm  of  my  poor  little  Maria  did  not  take ;  she 
caught  it  of  Mary,  and  had  it  the  natural  way.  She  was 
then  only  three  months  and  a  half  old,  and  had  been  a 
most  healthy  child ;  but  it  was  above  three  months  before 
she  perfectly  recovered  from  the  effects  of  this  dreadful  dis- 
order. t 

"  You  will  recollect  I  never  had  the  smallpox,  but  was 
vaccinated  previously  to  leaving  America.  In  consequence 
of  being  for  so  long  a  time  constantly  exposed,  I  had  nearly 
a  hundred  pustules  formed,  though  no  previous  symptoms  of 
fever,  &c.  The  jailer's  children  having  had  the  smallpox 
so  lightly,  in  consequence  of  inoculation,  my  fame  was  spread 
all  over  the  village,  and  every  child,  young  and  old,  who 
had  not  previously  had  it,  was  brought  for  inoculation.  And 
although  I  knew  nothing  about  the  disorder,  or  the  mode  of 
treating  it,  I  inoculated  them  all  with  a  needle,  and  told  them 
to  take  care  of  their  diet  —  all  the  instructions  I  could  give 
them.     Mr.  Judson's  health  Avas  gradually  restored,  and  he 


6UFFERINGS    AT    AVA.  315 

found  himself  much  more  comfortably  situated  than  when  in 
the  city  prison. 

44  The  prisoners  were  at  first  chained  two  and  two  ;  but  as 
soon  as  the  jailers  could  obtain  chains  sufficient,  they  were 
separated,  and  each  prisoner  had  but  one  pair.  The  prison 
was  repaired,  a  new  fence  made,  and  a  large,  airy  shed 
i  in  front  of  the  prison,  where  the  prisoners  were  al- 
lowed to  remain  during  the  day,  though  locked  up  in  the 
little  close  prison  at  night.  All  the  children  recovered  from 
the  smallpox  ;  but  my  watching!  and  fatigue,  together  with 
my  miserable  food,  and  more  miserable  lodgings,  brought  on 
one  of  the  diseases  of  the  country,  which  is  almost  always 
fatal  to  foreigners.  My  constitution  seemed  destroyed,  and 
in  a  few  days  I  became  so  weak  as  t6  be  hardly  able  to  walk 
to  Mr.  Judson's  prison.  In  this  debilitated  state  I  set  off  in 
a  cart  lor  Ava,  to  procure  medicines  and  some  suitable  food, 
leaving  the  cook  to  supply  my  place.  I  reached  the  house 
;y,  and  for  two  or  three  days  the  disorder  seemed  at  a 
staud  ;  after  which  it  attacked  me  so  violently  that  I  had  no 
hopes  of  recovery  left ;  and  my  only  anxiety  now  was,  to 
return  to  Oung-pen-la,  to  die  near  the  prison.  It  was  with 
the  greatest  difficulty  that  I  obtained  the  medicine  chest  from 
the  governor,  and  then  had  no  one  to  administer  medicine.  I, 
however,  got  at  the  laudanum,  and  by  taking  two  drops  at  a 
for  several  hours,  it  so  liir  checked  the  disorder  as  to 
enable  me  to  get  on  board  a  boat,  though  so  weak  that  I 
could  not  stand,  and  again  set  off  for  Oung-pen-la.  The  last 
four  miles  was  in  that  painful  conveyance,  the  cart,  and  in 
the  midst  of  the  rainy  season,  when  the  mud  almost  buries 
the  oxen.  You  may  form  some  idea  of  a  Burmese  cart,  when 
I  tell  you  their  wheels  are  not  constructed  like  ours,  but  are 
simply  round  thick  planks  with  a  hole  in  the  middle,  through 
which  a  pole  that  supports  the  body,  is  thrust. 

"I  just  reached  Oung-pen-la  when  my  strength  seemed 


316  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

entirely  exhausted.  The  good  native  cook  came  out  to  help 
me  into  the  house ;  but  so  altered  and  emaciated  was  my 
appearance,  that  the  poor  fellow  burst  into  tears  at  the  first 
sight.  I  crawled  on  to  the  mat  in  the  little  room,  to  which  I 
was  confined  for  more  than  two  months,  and  never  perfectly 
recovered  until  I  came  to  the  English  camp.  At  this  period, 
when  I  was  unable  to  take  care  of  myself,  or  look  after  Mr. 
Judson,  we  must  both  have  died,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
faithful  and  affectionate  care  of  our  Bengalee  cook.  A  com- 
mon Bengalee  cook  will  do  nothing  but  the  simple  business 
of  cooking ;  but  he  seemed  to  forget  his  caste,  and  almost  his 
own  wants,  in  his  efforts  to  serve  us.  He  would  provide, 
cook,  and  carry  your  brother's  food,  and  then  return  and  take 
care  of  me.  I  have  frequently  known  him  not  to  taste  of  food 
till  near  night,  in  consequence  of  having  to  go  so  far  for  wood 
and  water,  and  in  order  to  have  Mr.  Judson'-s  dinner  ready 
at  the  usual  hour.  He  never  complained,  never  asked  for  his 
wages,  and  never  for  a  moment  hesitated  to  go  anywhere, 
or  to  perform  any  act  we  required.  I  take  great  pleasure  in 
speaking  of  the  faithful  conduct  of  this  servant  who  is  still 
with  us,  and  I  trust  has  been  well  rewarded  for  his  services. 
"  Our  dear  little  Maria  was  the  greatest  sufferer  at  this 
time,  my  illness  depriving  her  of  her  usual  nourishment,  and 
neither  a  nurse  nor  a  drop  of  milk  could  be  procured  in  the 
village.  By  making  presents  to  the  jailers,  I  obtained  leave 
for  Mr.  Judson  to  come  out  of  prison,  and  take  the  emaciated 
creature  around  the  village,  to  beg  a  little  nourishment  from 
those  mothers  who  had  young  children.  Her  cries  in  the 
night  were  heart-rending,  when  it  was  impossible  to  supply 
her  wants..  I  now  began  to  think  the  very  afflictions  of  Job 
had  come  upon  me.  When  in  health,  I  could  bear  the  va- 
rious trials  and  vicissitudes  through  which  I  was  called  to 
pass.  But  to  be  confined  with  sickness,  and  unable  to  assist 
those  who  were  so  dear  to  me,  when  in  distress,  was  almost 


^ 


SUFFERINGS    AT   AVA.  317 

too  much  for  me  to  bear ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  conso- 
lations of  religion,  and  an  assured  conviction  that  every  ad- 
ditional trial  was  ordered  by  infinite  love  and  mercy,  I  must 
have  sunk  under  my  accumulated  su  tie  rings.  Sometimes 
our  jailers  seemed  a  little  softened  at  our  distress,  and  for  sev- 
eral days  together,  allowed  Mr.  Judson  to  come  to  the  house, 
which  was  to  me  an  unspeakable  consolation.  Then,  again, 
they  would  be  as  iron-hearted  in  their  demands  as  though 
•we  were  free  from  sufferings,  and  in  affluent  circumstances. 
The  annoyance,  the  extortions,  and  oppressions,  to  which  we 
were  subject  during  our  six  months'  residence  in  Oung-pen- 
la,  are  beyond  enumeration  or  description. 

"It  was  some  time  after  our  arrival  at  Oung-pen-la  that 
we  heard  of  the  execution  of  the  pakan-woon,  In  consequence 
of  whieh  our  lives  were  still  preserved.  For  we  afterwards 
ascertained  tint  the  white  foreigners  had  been  sent  to  Oung- 
pen-la  for  the  express  purpose  of  sacrificing  them  ;  and  that 
he  himself  intended  witnessing  the  horrid  scene.  We  had 
frequently  heard  of  his  intended  arrival  at  Oung-pen-la,  but 
we  1ml  no  idea  of  his  diabolical  purposes.  lie  had  raised  an 
army  of  fifty  thousand  men,  (a  tenth  part  of  whose  advance 
pav  was  found  in  his  house,)  and  expected  to  inarch  against 
the  English  army  in  a  short  time,  when  he  was  suspected  of 
high  treason,  and  instantly  executed  without  the  least  exam- 
ination. Perhaps  no  death  in  Ava  ever  produced  such  uni- 
versal rejoicings  as  that  of  the  pakan-woon.  We  never,  to 
this  day,  hear  his  name  mentioned  but  with  an  epithet  of 
reproach  or  hatred.  Another  brother  of  the  king  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  command  of  the  army  now  in  readiness,  but 
with  no  very  sanguine  expectations  of  success.  Some  weeks 
after  the  departure  of  these  troops,  two  of  the  woon-gyecs 
were  sent  down  for  the  purpose  of  negotiating.  But  not  be- 
ing successful,  the  queen's  brother,  the  acting  king  of  the  coun- 
try was  prevailed  on  to  go.     Great  expectations  were  raised 


318  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

in  consequence ;  but  his  cowardice  induced  him  to  encamp 
his  detachment  of  the  army  at  a  great  distance  from  the  Eng- 
lish, and  even  at  a  distance  from  the  main  body  of  the  Bur- 
mese army,  whose  head-quarters  were  then  at  Maloun.  Thus 
he  effected  nothing,  though  reports  were  continually  reach- 
ing us  that  peace  was  nearly  concluded. 

"  The  time  at  length  arrived  for  our  release  from  the  dreary 
scenes  of  Oung-pen-la.  A  messenger  from  our  friend,  the 
governor  of  the  north  gate  of  the  palace,  informed  us  that  an 
order  had  been  given,  the  evening  before,  in  the  palace,  for 
Mr.  Judson's  release.  On  the  same  evening  an  official  order 
arrived  ;  and,  with  a  joyful  heart,  I  set  about  preparing  for 
our  departure  early  the  following  morning.  But  an  unex- 
pected obstacle  occurred,  which  made  us  fear  that  I  should 
still  be  retained  as  a  prisoner.  The  avaricious  jailers,  un- 
willing to  lose  their  prey,  insisted  that,  as  my  name  was  not 
included  in  the  order,  I  should  not  go.  In  vain  I  urged  that 
I  was  not  sent  there  as  a  prisoner,  and  that  they  had  no 
authority  over  me  ;  they  still  determined  I  should  not  go, 
and  forbade  the  villagers  from  letting  me  a  cart.  Mr.  Jud- 
son  was  then  taken  out  of  prison,  and  brought  to  the  jailers' 
house,  where,  by  promises  and  threatenings,  he  finally  gained 
their  consent,  on  condition  that  we  would  leave  the  remain- 
ing part  of  our  provisions  we  had  recently  received  from 
Ava.  It  was  noon  before  we  were  allowed  to  depart.  When 
we  reached  Amarapoora,  Mr.  Judson  was  obliged  to  follow 
the  guidance  of  the  jailer,  who  conducted  him  to  the  gover- 
nor of  the  city.  Having  made  all  necessary  inquiries,  the 
governor  appointed  another  guard,  which  conveyed  Mr. 
Judson  to  the  court  house  in  Ava,  at  which  place  he  arrived 
some  time  in  the  night.  I  took  my  own  course,  procured  a 
boat,  and  reached  our  house  before  dark. 

"  My  first  object,  the  next  morning,  was  to  go  in  search  of 
your  brother ;  and  I  had  the  mortification  to  meet  him  again 


SUFFERINGS   AT  AVA.  319 

in  prison,  though  not  the  death  prison.  I  went  immedi- 
ately to  my  old  friend,  the  governor  of  the  city,  who  now  was 
raised  to  the  rank  of  a  woon-gyee.  He  informed  me  that 
Mr.  Judson  was  to  be  sent  to  the  Burmese  camp,  to  act  as 
translator  and  interpreter;  and  that  he  was  put  in  confine- 
ment for  a  short  time  only,  till  his  affairs  were  settled. 
Early  the  following  morning  I  went  to  this  officer  again,  who 
told  me  that  Mr.  Judson  had  that  moment  received  twenty 
ticals  from  government,  with  orders  to  go  immediately  on 
board  a  boat  for  Maloun,  and  that  he  had  given  him  permis- 
sion to  stop  a  few  moments  at  the  house,  it  being  on  his  way. 
I  hastened  back  to  the  house,  where  Mr.  Judson  soon  arrived, 
but  was  allowed  to  remain  only  a  short  time,  while  I  could 
prepare  food  and  clothing  for  future  use.  He  was  crowded 
into  a  little  boat,  where  he  had  not  room  sufficient  to  lie  down, 
and  where  his  exposure  to  the  cold,  damp  nights  threw  him 
iuto  a  violent  fever,  which  had  nearly  ended  all  his  sufferings. 
He  arrived  at  Maloun  on  the  third  day,  where,  ill  as  he  was, 
>  obliged  to  enter  immediately  on  the  work  of  translat- 
ing. He  remained  at  Maloun  six  weeks,  suifering  as  much 
as  he  had  at  any  time  in  prison,  excepting  he  was  not  in 
nor  exposed  to  the  insults  of  those  cruel  jailers. 
"  For  the  first  fortnight  after  his  departure  my  anxiety  was 
less  than  it  had  been  at  any  time  previously  since  the  com- 
mencement of  our  difficulties.  I  knew  the  Burmese  officers 
at  the  ramp  would  feel  the  value  of  Mr.  Judson's  services  too 
much  to  allow  their  using  any  measures  threatening  his  life. 
]  thought  his  situation,  also,  would  be  much  more  comfortable 
than  it  really  was;  hence  my  anxiety  was  less.  But  my 
health,  which  had  never  been  restored  since  that  violent  at- 
tack at  Oung-pen-la,  now  daily  declined,  till  I  was  seized 
with  the  spotted  fever,  with  all  its  attendant  horrors.  I 
knew  the  nature  of  the  fever  from  its  commencement;  and, 
from  the  shattered  state  of  my  constitution,  together  with  the 


320  THE    EARNEST   MAN\ 

want  of  medical  attendants,  I  concluded  it  must  be  fatal. 
The  day  I  was  taken  with  the  fever,  a  Burmese  nurse  came 
and  offered  her  services  for  Maria.  This  circumstance  filled 
me  with  gratitude  and  confidence  in  God ;  for,  though  I  had 
so  long  and  so  constantly  made  efforts  to  obtain  a  person  of 
this  description,  I  had  never  been  able ;  when  at  the  very 
time  I  most  needed  one,  and  without  any  exertion,  a  volun- 
tary offer  was  made.  My  fever  raged  violently,  and  with- 
out any  intermission.  I  began  to  think  of  settling  my  worldly 
affairs,  and  of  committing  my  dear  little  Maria  to  the  care  of 
a  Portuguese  woman,  when  I  lost  my  reason,  and  was  insen- 
sible to  all  around  me.  At  this  dreadful  period,  Dr.  Price  was 
released  from  prison,  and  hearing  of  my  illness,  obtained 
permission  to  come  and  see  me.  He  has  since  told  me  that 
my  situation  was  the  most  distressing  he  had  ever  witnessed, 
and  that  he  did  not  then  think  I  should  survive  many  hours. 
My  hair  was  shaved,  my  head  and  feet  covered  with  blisters, 
and  Dr.  Price  ordered  the  Bengalee  servant  who  took  care 
of  me  to  endeavor  to  persuade  me  to  take  a  little  nourish- 
ment, which  I  had  obstinately  refused  for  several  days.  One 
of  the  first  things  I  recollect  was  seeing  this  faithful  servant 
standing  by  me,  trying  to  induce  me  to  take  a  little  wine  and 
water.  I  was,  in  fact,  so  far  gone  that  the  Burmese  neigh- 
bors, who  had  come  in^to  see  me  expire,  said,  *  She  is  dead; 
and  if  the  King  of  angels  should  come  in,  he  could  not 
recover  her.' 

"  The  fever,  I  afterwards  understood,  had  run  seventeen 
days  when  the  blisters  were  applied.  I  now  began  to  recover 
slowly,  but  it  was  more  than  a  month  after  this  before  T  had 
strength  to  stand.  While  in  this  weak,  debilitated  state,  the 
servant  who  had  followed  your  brother  to  the  Burmese  camp 
came  in,  and  informed  me  that  his  master  had  arrived,  and 
was  conducted  to  the  court  house  in  town.  I  sent  off  a  Bur- 
man  to  watch  the  movements  of  government,  and  to  ascertain, 


SUFFERINGS   AT   AVA.  321 

if  possible,  in  what  way  Mr.  Judson  was  to  be  disposed  of. 
He  soon  returned  with  the  sad  intelligence  that  he  saw  Mr. 
Judson  go  out  of  the  palace  yard,  accompanied  by  two  or 
three  Burmans,  who  conducted  him  to  one  of  the  prisons,  and 
that  it  was  reported  in  town  that  he  was  to  be  sent  back  to 
the  Oung-pen-la  prison.  I  was  too  weak  to  bear  ill  tidings 
ofanv'kind;  but  a  shock  so  dreadful  as  this  almost  annihi- 
lated me.  For  some  time  I  could  hardly  breathe,  but  at  last 
gained  sufficient  composure  to  dispatch  Moung  Ing  to  our 
friend,  the  governor  of  the  north  gate,  and  begged  him  to 
make  one  more  ejfort  for  the  release  of  Mr.  Judson,  and  pre- 
vent his  being  sent  back  to  the  country  prison,  where  I  knew 
hi  must  suffer  much,  as  I  could  not  follow.  Moung  Ing  then 
went  in  search  of  Mr.  Judson;  anjl  it  was  nearly  dark  when 
he  found  him,  in  the  interior  of  an  obscure  prison.  I  had 
sent  food  early  in  the  afternoon  ;  but  being  unable  to  find 
him,  the  bearer  had  returned  with  it,  which  added  another 
pang  to  my  distresses,  as  I  feared  he  was  already  sent  to 
Oung-pen-la. 

"  If  I  ever  felt  the  value  and  eflieacy  of  prayer,  I  did  at 
this  time.  I  could  not  rise  from  my  couch;  I  could  make  no 
efforts  to  secure  my  husband  ;  I  could  only  plead  with  that 
gftfll  and  powerful  Being  who  has  said,  '  Call  upon  me  in 
j  Ik-  day  of  trouble,  and  /  /rill  hear,  and  thou  shalt  glorify  me/ 
and  who  made  mo  at  this  time  feel  so  powerfully  this  promise 
became  quite  composed,  feeling  assured  that  my  pray- 
ers would  be  answered. 

"  When  Mr.  Judson  was  sent  from  Maloun  to  Ava,  it  was 
within  five  minutes'  notice,  and  without  his  knowledge  of  the 
On  his  way  up  the  river,  he  accidentally  saw  the 
communication  made  to  government  respecting  him,  which 
was  simply  this :  '  We  have  no  further  use  for  Yudathan  ; 
we  therefore  return  him  to  the  golden  city.'  On  arriving  at 
the  court  house,  there  happened  to  be  no  one  present  who 
21 


322  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

was  acquainted  with  Mr  Judson.  The  presiding  officer  in- 
quired from  what  place  he  had  been  sent  to  Maloun.  He 
was  answered,  from  Oung-pen-la.  '  Let  him,  then,'  said  the 
officer,  l  be  returned  thither ; '  when  he  was  delivered  to  a 
guard  and  conducted  to  the  place  above  mentioned,  there  to 
remain  until  he  could  be  conveyed  to  Oung-pen-la.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  governor  of  the  north  gate  presented  a  peti- 
tion to  the  high  court  of  the  empire,  offered  himself  as  Mr. 
Judson's  security,  obtained  his  release,  and  took  him  to  his 
house,  where  he  treated  him  with  considerable  kindness, 
and  to  which  I  was  removed  as  soon  as  returning  health 
would  allow. 

"  The  advance  of  the  English  army  towards  the  capital  at 
this  time,  threw  the  whole  town  into  the  greatest  state  of 
alarm,  and  convinced  the  government  that  some-  speedy 
measures  must  be  taken  to  save  the  golden  city.  They*  had 
hitherto  rejected  all  the  overtures  of  Sir  Archibald  Camp- 
bell, imagining,  until  this  late  period,  that  they  could  in  some 
way  or  other  drive  the  English  from  the  country.  Mr.  Jud- 
son  and  Dr.  Price  were  daily  called  to  the  palace  and  con- 
sulted ;  in  fact,  nothing  was  done  without  their  approbation. 
Two  English  officers,  also,  who  had  lately  been  brought  to 
Ava  as  prisoners,  were  continually  consulted,  and  their  good 
offices  requested  in  .endeavoring  to  persuade  the  British  gen- 
eral to  make  peace  on  easier  terms.  It  was  finally  concluded 
that  Mr.  Judson  and  one  of  the  officers  above  mentioned 
should  be  sent  immediately  to  the  English  camp,  in  order  to 
negotiate.  The  danger  attached  to  a  situation  so  responsible, 
under  a  government  so  fickle  as  the  Burmese,  induced  your 
brother  to  use  every  means  possible  to  prevent  his  being 
sent.  Dr.  Price  was  not  only  willing,  but  desirous  of  going. 
This  circumstance  Mr.  Judson  represented  to  the  members 
of  government,  and  begged  he  might  not  be  compelled  to  go, 
as  Dr.  Price  could  transact  the  business  equally  as  well  as 


SUFFERINGS    AT   AVA.  323 

himself.  After  some  hesitation  and  deliberation.  Dr.  Price 
was  appointed  to  accompany  Dr.  Sandford,  one  of  the  Eng- 
lish officers,  on  condition  that  Mr.  Judson  would  stand  secur- 
ity for  his  return  ;  while  the  other  English  officer,  then  in 
irons,  should  be  security  for  Dr.  Sandford.  The  king  gave 
them  a  hundred  deals  each  to  bear  their  expenses,  (twenty- 
five  of  which  Dr.  Sandford  generously  sent  to  Mr.  Gouger, 
still  a  prisoner  at  Oung-pen-la,)  boats,  men,  and  a  Burmese 
officer  to  accompany  them,  though  he  ventured  no  further 
than  the  Burman  camp.  With  the  most  anxious  solicitude 
the  court  waited  the  arrival  of  the  messengers,  but  did  not  in 
the  least  relax  in  their  exertions  to  fortify  the  city.  Men  and 
beasts  were  at  work  night  and  day,  making  new  stockades 
and  strengthening  old  ones;  and  whatever  buildings  were  in 
their  way,  were  immediately  torn  down.  Our  house,  with 
all  that  surrounded  it,  was  levelled  to  the  ground,  and  our 
beautiful  little  compound  turned  into  a  road  and  a  place  for 
the  erection  of  cannon.  All  articles  of  value  were  conveyed 
out  of  town,  and  safely  deposited  in  some  other  place. 

"  At  length  the  boat  in  which  the  ambassadors  had  been 
vas  seen  approaching,  a  day  earlier  than  was  expected. 
As  it  advanced  towards  the  city,  the  banks  were  lined  by 
thousands,  anxiously  inquiring  their  success.  But  no  answer 
was  given  ,  the  government  must  first  hear  the  news.  The 
palace  gates  were  crowded  ;  the  officers  at  the  lut-d'hau  were 
seated,  when  Dr.  Price  made  the  following  communication  : 
'The  general  and  commissioners  will  make  no  alteration  in 
their  terms,  except  the  hundred  lacks  [a  lack  is  a  hundred 
thousand]  of  rupees  may  be  paid  at  four  different  times ;  the 
first  twenty-five  lacks  to  be  paid  within  twelve  days,  or  the 
army  will  continue  their  march.'  In  addition  to  this,  the 
prisoners  were  to  be  given  up  immediately.  The  general 
had  commissioned  Dr.  Price  to  demand  Mr.  Judson,  and 
myself,  and  little  Maria.      This  was  communicated  to  the 


324  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

king,  who  replied :  '  They  are  not  English ;  they  are  my 
people,  and  shall  not  go.'  At  this  time  I  had  no  idea  that  we 
should  ever  be  released  from  Ava.  The  government  had 
learned  the  value  of  your  brother's  services,  having  employed 
him  the  last  three  months ;  and  we  both  concluded  that  they 
would  never  consent  to  our  departure.  The  foreigners  were 
again  called  to  a  consultation,  to  see  what  could  be  done. 
Dr.  Price  and  Mr.  Judson  told  them  plainly  that  the  English 
would  never  make  peace  on  any  other  terms  than  those  of- 
fered ;  and  that  it  was  in  vain  to  go  down  again  without  the 
money.  It  was  then  proposed  that  a  third  part  of  the  first 
sum  demanded,  should  be  sent  down  immediately.  Mr.  Jud- 
son objected,  and  still  said  it  would  be  useless.  Some  of  the 
members  of  government  then  intimated  that  it  was  probable 
the  teachers  were  on  the  side  of  the  English,  and  did  not  try 
to  make  them  take  a  smaller  sum ;  and  also  threatened,  if 
they  did  not  make  the  English  comply,  they  and  their  fami- 
lies should  suffer. 

"  In  this  interval,  the  fears  of  the  government  were  con- 
siderably allayed  by  the  offers  of  a  general,  by  name  Layar- 
thoo-yah,  who  desired  to  make  one  more  attempt  to  conquer 
the  English,  and  disperse  them.  He  assured  the  king  and 
government,  that  he  could  so  fortify  the  ancient  city  of  Pu- 
gan,  as  to  make  it  impregnable,  and  that  he  would  there  de- 
feat and  destroy  the  English.  His  offers  were  heard;  he 
marched  to  Pugan  with  a  very  considerable  force,  and  made 
strong  the  fortifications.  But  the  English  took  the  city  with 
perfect  ease,  and  dispersed  the  Burmese  army  ;  while  the 
general  fled  to  Ava,  and  had  the  presumption  to  appear  in 
the  presence  of  the  king,  and  demand  new  <  troops.  The 
king,  being  enraged  that  he  had  ever  listened  to  him  for  a 
moment,  in  consequence  of  which  the  negotiation  had  been 
delayed,  the  English  general  provoked,  and  the  troops  daily 
advancing,  ordered  the  general  to  be  immediately  executed. 


SUFFERINGS    AT    AVA.  325 

The  poor  fellow  was  soon  hurled  from  the  palace,  and  beat 
all  the  way  to  the  court  house,  when  he  was  stripped  of  his 
rich  apparel,  bound  with  cords,  and  made  to  kneel  and  bow 
towards  the  palace.  He  was  then  delivered  into  the  hands 
of  the  executioners,  who,  by  their  cruel  treatment,  put  an 
end  to  his  existence  before  they  reached  the  place  of  exe- 
cution. 

"  The  king  caused  it  to  be  reported  that  this  general  was 
executed  in  consequence  of  disobeying  his  commands,  *  not 
tojight  the  English.' 

"  Dr.  Price  was  sent  off  the  same  night,  with  part  of  the 
prisoners,  and  with  instructions  to  persuade  the  general  to 
take  six  lacks,  instead  of  twenty-five.  He  returned  in  two 
or  three  days,  with  the  appalling  intelligence  that  the  Eng- 
lish general  was  very  angry,  refused  to  have  any  communi- 
cation with  him,  and  was  now  within  a  few  days'  march  of 
the  capital.  The  queen  was  greatly  alarmed,  and  said  the 
money  should  be  raised  immediately,  if  the  English  would 
only  stop  their  march.  The  whole  palace  was  in  motion  ; 
gold  and  silver  vessels  were  melted  up ;  the  king  and  queen 
superintended  the  weighing  of  a  part  of  it,  and  were  deter- 
mined, if  possible,  to  save  their  city.  The  silver  was  ready 
ill  the  boats  by  the  next  evening;  but  they  had  so  little  con- 
fidence in  the  English,  that,  after  all  their  alarm,  they  con- 
eluded  to  send  down  six  lacks  only,  with  the  assurance  that, 
if  th.'  English  would  stop  where  they  then  were,  the  remain- 
der should  be  forthcoming  immediately. 

"  The  government  now  did  not  even  ask  Mr.  Judson  the 
<[iu  -st  ion  whether  he  would  go  or  not;  but  some  of  the  officers 
"took  him  by  the  arm,  as  he  was  walking  in  the  street,  and 
told  him  he  must  go  immediately  on  board  the  boat,  to  ac- 
company two  Burmese  officers,  a  woon-gyee  and  woon-douk, 
who  were  going  down  to  make  peace.  Most  of  the  English 
prisoners   were  sent  at  the  same  time.     The  general  and 


326  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

commissioners  would  not  receive  the  six  lacks,  neither  would 
they  stop  their  march ;  but  promised,  if  the  sum  complete 
reached  them  before  they  should  arrive  at  Ava,  they  would 
make  peace.  The  general  also  commissioned  Mr.  Judson  to 
collect  the  remaining  foreigners,  of  whatever  country,  and 
ask  the  question,  before  the  Burmese  government,  whether 
they  wished  to  go  or  stay.  Those  who  expressed  a  wish  to 
go,  should  be  delivered  up  immediately,  or  peace  would  not 
be  made. 

"  Mr.  Judson  reached  Ava  at  midnight,  had  all  the  foreign- 
ers called  the  next  morning,  and  the  question  asked.  Some 
of  the  members  of  government  said  to  him :  '  You  will  not 
leave  us ;  you  shall  become  a  great  man  if  you  will  remain.' 
He  then  secured  himself  from  the  odium  of  saying  that  he 
wished  to  leave  the  service  of  his  majesty,  by  recurring  to 
the  order  of  Sir  Archibald,  that  whoever  wished  to  leave 
Ava,  should  be  given  up,  and  that  I  had  expressed  a  wish 
to  go,  so  that  he  of  course  must  follow.  The  remaining  part 
of  the  twenty-five  lacks  was  soon  collected ;  the  prisoners  at 
Oung-pen-la  were  all  released,  and  either  sent  to  their 
houses,  or  down  the  river  to  the  English ;  and  in  two  days 
from  the  time  of  Mr.  Judson's  return,  we  took  an  affection- 
ate leave  of  the  good-natured  officer  who  had  so  long  enter- 
tained us  at  his  house,  and  who  now  accompanied  us  to  the 
water  side,  and  we  then  left  forever  the  banks  of  Ava. 

"  It  was  on  a  cool,  moonlight  evening,  in  the  month  of 
March,  that,  with  hearts  filled  with  gratitude  to  God,  and 
overflowing  with  joy  at  our  prospects,  we  passed  down  the 
Irrawady,  surrounded  by  six  or  eight  golden  boats,  and  ac- 
companied by  all  we  had  on  earth.  The  thought  that  we* 
had  still  to  pass  the  Burman  camp,  would  sometimes  occur  to 
damp  our  joy,  for  we  feared  that  some  obstacle  might  there 
arise  to  retard  our  progress.  Nor  were  we  mistaken  in  our 
conjectures.     We  reached  the  camp  about  midnight,  where 


SUFFERINGS   AT   AVA.  827 

we  were  detained  two  hours ;  the  woon-gyee  and  high  of- 
ficers insisting  that  tee  should  wait  at  the  camp,  while  Dr. 
Price,  who  did  not  return  to  Ava  with  your  brother,  but  re- 
BMUBed  at  the  camp,  should  go  on  with  the  money,  and  first 
ascertain  whether  peace  would  be  made.  The  Burmese 
government  still  entertained  the  idea  that,  as  soon  as  the 
English  had  received  the  money  and  prisoners,  they  would 
continue  their  march,  and  yet  destroy  the  capital.  We 
knew  not  but  that  some  circumstance  might  occur  to  break 
otr  the  negotiations.  Mr.  Judson  therefore  strenuously  in- 
sisted that  he  would  not  remain,  but  go  on  immediately. 
The  olficers  were  finally  prevailed  on  to  consent,  hoping 
nnuli  from  Mr.  Judson's  assistance  in  making  peace. 

*•  We  now,  for  the  first  time  for  more  than  a  year  and  a 
half,  felt  that  we  were  free,  and  no  longer  subject  to  the  op- 
e  yoke  of  the  Burmese.  And  with  what  sensations 
of  delight,  on  the  next  morning,  did  I  behold  the  masts  of 
unboat,  the  sure  presage  of  being  within  the  bounds 
of  civilized  life  1  As  soon  as  our  boat  reached  the  shore, 
Brigadier  A.  and  another  officer  came  on  board,  congratu- 
lated us  on  our  arrival,  and  invited  us  on  board  the  steam- 
boat, where  I  passed  the  remainder  of  the  day ;  while  your 
brother  went  on  to  meet  the  general,  who,  with  a  detachment 
of  the  army,  had  encamped  at  Yandabo,  a  few  miles  further 
down  the  river.  Mr.  Judson  returned  in  the  evening,  with 
an  invitation  from  Sir  Archibald  to  come  immediately  to  his 
quarters,  where  I  was  the  next  morning  introduced,  and  re- 
ceived with  the  greatest  kindness  by  the  general,  who  had  a 
tent  pitched  for  us  near  his  own,  took  us  to  his  own  table, 
and  treated  us  with  the  kindness  of  a  father,  rather  than  as 
strangers  of  another  country. 

44  We  feel  that  our  obligations  to  General  Campbell  can 
never  be  cancelled.  Our  final  release  from  Ava,  and  our 
recovering  all  the  property  that  had  there  been  taken,  was 


328  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

owing  entirely  to  his  efforts.  His  subsequent  hospitality,  and 
kind  attention  to  the  accommodations  for  our  passage  to  Ran- 
goon, have  left  an  impression  on  our  minds,  which  can  never 
be  effaced.  We  daily  received  the  congratulation  of  the 
British  officers,  whose  conduct  towards  us  formed  a  striking 
contrast  to  that  of  the  Burmese.  I  presume  to  say  that  no 
persons  on  earth  were  ever  happier  than  we  were  during 
the  fortnight  we  passed  at  the  English  camp.  For  several 
days,  this  single  idea  wholly  occupied  my  mind,  —  that  we 
were  out  of  the  power  of  the  Burmese  government,  and 
once  more  under  the  protection  of  the  English.  Our  feel- 
ings continually  dictated  expressions  like  these :  What  shall 
we  render  to  the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits  towards  us? 

"  The  treaty  of  peace  was  soon  concluded,  signed  by  both 
parties,  and  a  termination  of  hostilities  publicly  declared. 
We  left  Yandabo,  after  a  fortnight's  residence,  and  safely 
reached  the  mission  house  in  Rangoon,  after  an  absence  of 
two  years  and  three  months." 

At  the  close  of  this  tragic  narrative,  Mrs.  Judson 
remarks :  "  This  letter,  dreadful  as  are  the  scenes 
herein  described,  gives  you  but  a  faint  idea  of  the 
dreadful  reality.  The  anguish,  the  agony  of  mind,  re- 
sulting from  a  thousand  little  circumstances,  impossible 
to  be  delineated  on  paper,  can  be  known  by  those  only 
who  have  been  in  similar  circumstances."  Twenty- 
years  after,  Dr.  Judson  spoke  of  the  horrors  of  this 
period  as  too  terrible  to  be  related  in  full ;  and  said 
that  when  ill  or  sad,  the  fearful  images  haunted  him, 
even  then. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


THE   DESOLATED    HOME. 


The  close  of  the  Burmese  war  marks  the  commence- 
ment of  the  second  period  of  the  mission.  On  the 
return  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson  to  Rangoon,  after  their 
release  from  Ava,  they  found  the  mission  house  in 
ruins,  the  little  church  dispersed,  and  such  a  state  of 
alarm  and  confusion  from  the  rising  among  the  native 
Peguans,  who  had  seized  the  favorable  moment  for  as- 
serting their  independence,  that  it  was  evident  the  mis- 
sion could  not  at  present  be  reconstructed  in  Rangoon. 
Had  other  circumstances  been  favorable,  the  decided 
refusal  of  the  emperor  to  grant  religious  toleration, 
would  have  allowed  little  hope  of  success  to  such  an 
attempt. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Tenasserim  provinces,  which 
had  been  ceded  to  the  British,  presented  an  opportu- 
nity for  a  new  establishment  under  the  most  favorable 
auspices.  Here  were  the  same  races,  the  same  lan- 
guage, as  in  Burmah   proper.     Under  the  protecting 


330  THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

arm  of  British  rule,  they  could  prosecute  openly,  and 
on  the  largest  scale  their  means  would  admit,  all  the 
departments  of  missionary  labor,  and  it  would  be  im- 
possible for  the  utmost  vigilance  of  the  emperor  to 
prevent  the  influence  from  spreading  into  his  domin- 
ions. The  continual  intercourse  on  the  frontier  would 
inevitably  extend  the  spirit  of  inquiry.  Tracts,  those 
silent  little  messengers,  so  peculiarly  adapted  to  the 
character  of  the  Burman  mind,  would  find  their  way 
by  thousands  across  the  dividing  line,  and  steal  along 
the  watercourses,  and  over  the  hills  and ,  valleys,  into 
the  very  heart  of  the  country.  The  native  missionary, 
too,  might  occasionally  venture  into  the  wild  jungles 
and  remote  villages,  to  proclaim  the  words  of  salvation. 
All  these  advantages  were  heightened  by  the  personal 
relations  of  Mr.  Judson  to  the  Bengal  government,  and 
to  its  officers  in  Burmah.  Far  different,  truly,  were 
these  relations  from  those  in  which  he  stood  only  thir- 
teen years  before,  when  he  stole,  a  midnight  fugitive, 
through  the  streets  of  Calcutta. 

The  capital  of  the  lately  acquired  provinces  would 
naturally  be  the  seat  of  the  new  mission ;  and  accord- 
ingly Mr.  Judson  gladly  accepted  the  invitation  of  Mr. 
Crawford,  commissioner  of  the  governor-general,  to  ac- 
company him,  early  in  April,  on  an  exploring  tour  for 
selecting  a  site.     The  tone  of  his  journal,  while  absent, 


THE   DESOLATED    HOME.  331 

shows  a  spirit  unsubdued  by  suffering,  ready  to  enter, 
with  youthful  alacrity,  on  new  scenes  of  responsibility 
and  toil.  There  is  a  springing  buoyancy  in  his  brief 
descriptions  of  the  events  of  the  short  voyage,  and  of 
the  natural  scenery  and  various  objects  of  interest  on 
the  way  —  like  that  of  one  to  whom  the  sense  of  free- 
dom, and  the  glad  sights  of  nature,  were  still  a  delight- 
ful novelty. 

The  result  of  the  expedition  was  the  selection  of 
Kyaikamee,  a  port  at  the  mouth  of  the  Salwen,  pro- 
tected on  the  south  by  a  bold  promontory,  and  furnish- 
ing good  anchorage  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
from  the  shore.  On  the  6th  of  April,  the  civil  and 
military  authorities  took  possession  of  this  place,  in  the 
name  of  the  king,  and  of  the  Honorable  East  India 
Company,  by  appropriate  ceremonies,  and  gave  to  it, 
in  honor  of  the  governor-general,  the  name  of  Am- 
In  conclusion,  the  sixtieth  chapter  of  Isaiah 
was  read,  and  prayer  was  offered  by  Dr.  Judson.  It 
must  have  been  to  him  an  hour  rich  with  strange  mem- 
ories, with  profound  gratitude  and  exulting  hope.  Be- 
hind him  towered  the  lofty  headland,  on  whose  seaward 
verge  rose,  in  decaying  grandeur,  a  temple  of  Gau- 
dama ;  above  his  head  floated  the  royal  flag  of  Eng- 
land, and  around  him  stood,  with  heads  uncovered,  and 
in  reverent  silence,  the  representatives  of  British  sov- 


332  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

ereignty  in  India,  while  he  solemnly  consecrated  this 
new  centre  of  its  power  to  the  worship  and  glory  of 
the  King  of  kings.  His  friend,  Mr.  Crawford,'  has 
recorded  his  admiring  recollection  of  the  beauty  and 
appropriateness  of  this  prayer ;  but  probably  no  one 
of  the  listeners  fully  appreciated  the  far-reaching  sig- 
nificance of  the  occasion  to  his  own  mind. 

On  his  return  to  J&angoon,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson 
concluded  to  become  the  first  settlers  in  the  new  town. 
The  old  zayat,  endeared  by  so  many  recollections,  was 
taken  down,  that  the  boards  might  be  forwarded  to 
Amherst  for  the  erection  of  a  temporary  shelter  during 
the  approaching  rains.  But  before  this  could  be  ef- 
fected, there  came  a  new  interruption  of  their  mission- 
ary plans. 

The  treaty  of  Yandabo  contained  the  stipulation  for 
an  additional  commercial  treaty,  the  terms  of  which 
were  left  to  be  subsequently  settled.  These  the  Ben- 
gal government  wished  to  make  mutually  advantageous 
to  the  two  countries.  Mr.  Crawford,  having  been  ap- 
pointed envoy  to  the  Burman  court  for  the  adjustment 
of  this  business,  importuned  Dr.  Judson  to  accompany 
him.  After  repeatedly  declining  the  proposal,*  he 
was  at  length  induced  to  comply  by  a  pledge,  on  the 

*  He  had  already  declined  the  situation  of  government  interpreter, 
•with  a  salary  of  three  thousand  dollars. 


THE   DESOLATED    HOME.  333 

part  of  Mr.  Crawford,  to  do  his  utmost  for  securing  in 
the  treaty  an  article  in  favor  of  religious  toleration. 
Mra.  Judson  earnestly  advised  the  step,  as  one  of  great 
importance  to  the  mission. 

This  being  decided,  he  removed  his  family  near  the 
close  of  June  to  Amherst,  where  several  of  the  native 
converts  had  already  gone  in  anticipation  of  his  com- 
ing, and  had,  in  Mr.  Judson's  words,  "built  the  first 
native  houses  that  encroached  on  the  native  jungle, 
and  disturbed  the  deer  and  wild  fowl,  who  had  been 
the  undisputed  occupants  of  the  peninsula."  A  village 
of  some  fifty  houses,  mostly  native,  and  the  military 
cantonments  and  officers'  houses,  about  a  mile  distant, 
had  somewhat  subdued  the  inhospitable  aspect  of  Am- 
herst, and  insured  to  Mrs.  Judson  a  comfortable  and 
secure  residence  during  his  absence.  Captain  Fen- 
wick,  civil  superintendent  of  the  place,  immediately 
vacated,  for  her  accommodation,  a  house  which  he  had 
put  up  for  his  own  temporary  use,  and  exerted  himself 
in  every  way  to  make  her  situation  pleasant. 

Just  before  her  husband's  departure,  a  present  of 
three  hundred  rupees,  from  a  benevolent  friend,  fur- 
nished Mrs.  Judson  with  the  means  of  putting  up  a 
small  mission  house,  and  gathering  a  school.  Every 
tiling,  to  her  view,  wore  a  bright  and  promising  aspect, 
and  she  bade  her  husband  farewell  with  cheerfulness, 


334  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

in  the  confident  hope  of  a  speedy  reunion  within  three 
or  four  months. 

He  left  Amherst  on  the  5th  of  July ;  but  being  de- 
tained at  Rangoon  for  the  final  orders  from  Bengal,  did 
not  leave  that  place  till  September  1,  for  Ava,  where 
they  arrived  on  the  30th.  Three  weeks  then  elapsed 
before  an  interview  could  be  obtained  with  the  em- 
peror; and  when,  at  length,  that  haughty  personage 
condescended  to  be  seen  by  a  British  envoy,  it  was  in 
an  exceedingly  sulky  humor.  Nothing  of  any  value 
could  be  secured,  even  for  commercial  objects  ;  and  all 
talk  about  religious  toleration  was  found  to  be  out  of 
the  question.  A  whole  month  was  thus  spent  in  tedi- 
ous and  useless  negotiations,  in  conducting  which,  Mr. 
Judson  was  obliged  constantly  to  act  the  wearisome 
part  of  interpreter,  feeling  all  the  time  that  the  inter- 
ests dearest  to  himself  were  suffering  deplorably  by  his 
absence. 

On  the  23d  of  November  the  long-protracted  nego- 
tiation was  brought  to  an  end,  by  the  signing  of  the 
treaty,  and  Mr.  Judson  began  to  exult  in  the  prospect 
of  a  speedy  return  to  his  beloved  home,  and  his  long 
suspended  missionary  labors.  On  the  24th,  a  letter 
from  the  assistant  superintendent  of  Amherst  brought 
the  tidings  that  Mrs.  Judson  was  no  more  ! 

His  feelings,  under  this  most  unexpected  and  over- 


THE   DESOLATED    HOME.  335 

whelming  affliction,  can  only  be  fitly  given  in  his  own 
language :  — 

To  his  Sister. 

Ava,  December  7, 1826. 

"Weep  with  me,  my  dear  sister  and  parents,  for  my  beloved 
wife  is  no  more.  She  died  at  Amherst,  the  24th  of  October 
last,  of  remittent  fever,  and  is  buried  near  the  spot  where 
she  first  landed  ;  and  "  they  have  put  up  a  small,  rude  fence 
around  the  grave,  to  protect  it  from  incautious  intrusion." 
There  lies,  inclosed  in  a  coffin,  the  form  of  her  I  so  much 
loved  —  the  wife  of  my  youth,  the  source  and  centre  of  my 
domestic  happiness. 

She  had  just  built  a  small  house,  and  moved  into  it  three 
weeks  before  she  was  taken  ill ;  and  she  writes  :  "  May  God 
preserve  and  bless  you,  and  restore  you  in  safety  to  your  old 
and  new  home,  is  the  prayer  of  your  affectionate  Ann." 
Alas !  the  new  home  only  remains  for  me ;  my  old  home  is 
broken  up  forever.  Even  little  Maria  is  too  young  to  recog- 
nize her  papa ;  and,  before  I  see  her,  will  have  forgotten  her 
mamma,  who  loved  her  so  much,  and  took  such  care  of  her. 
Ah,  little,  ungrateful  babe,  who  will  ever  love  you  like  your 
own  mamma,  whom  you  have  so  soon  forgotten  ?  Let  us  go, 
my  child,  to  her  grave,  and  plant  some  flowers  there,  and 
water  them  with  our  tears,  and  wait  for  her  resurrection  at 
the  last  day  ;  for  her  spirit  has  been  conveyed  by  angels  to 
Abraham's  bosom,  and  is  now  existing  in  paradise  with  the 
spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect.  And  she  will  come  again, 
and  resume  the  form  which  now  moulders  in  the  grave. 
Then  she  will  be  bright  as  the  sun,  beautiful  as  an  angel, 
immortal  as  the  Saviour.  And  all  of  us  who  are  entitled  to 
immortality  by  a  union  to  the  same  immortal  Head,  will  live 
together  with  her  in  the  enjoyment  of  everlasting  life. 

We  will  not,  then,  mourn  as  those  who  have  no  hope ; 


336  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

"  for,  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so 
them  also  that  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him." 

Yet,  notwithstanding  the  consolations  of  the  gospel,  grief 
claims  its  right,  and  tears  their  course  ;  and  I  must  subscribe 
myself, 

Your  brother,  in  the  deepest  sorrow, 

A.  Judson,  Jr. 

Amherst,  February  4, 1827. 

Amid  the  desolation  that  death  has  made,  I  take  up  my 
pen  once  more,  to  address  the  mother  of  my  beloved  Ann. 
I  am  sitting  in  the  house  she  built,  in  the  room  where  she 
breathed  her  last,  and  at  a  window  from  which  I  see  the  tree, 
that  stands  at  the  head  of  her  grave,  and  the  top  of  the 
"  small,  rude  fence"  which  they  have  put  up  "  to  protect  it 
from  incautious  intrusion." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wade  are  living  in  the  house,  having  arrived 
here  about  a  month  after  Ann's  death ;  and  Mrs.  Wade  has 
taken  charge  of  my  poor  motherless  Maria.  I  was  unable  to 
get  any  accounts  of  the  child  at  Rangoon ;  and  it  was  only 
on  my  arriving  here,  the  24th  ultimo,  that  I  learned  she  was 
still  alive.  Mr.  Wade  met  me  at  the  landing-place  ;  and  as  I 
passed  on  to  the  house,  one  and  another  of  the  native  Chris- 
tians came  out ;  and  when  they  saw  me,  they  began  to  weep. 
At  length  we  reached  the  house ;  and  I  almost  expected  to 
see  my  love  coming  out  to  meet  me,  as  usual.  But,  no ;  I 
saw  only  in  the  arms  of  Mrs.  Wade  a  poor  little  puny  child, 
who  could  not  recognize  her  weeping  father,  and  from  whose 
infant  mind  had  long  been  erased  all  recollection  of  the 
mother  who  loved  her  so  much. 

She  turned  away  from  me  in  alarm  ;  and  I,  obliged  to  seek 
comfort  elsewhere,  found  my  way  to  the  grave.  But  who 
ever  obtained  comfort  there  ?  Thence  I  went  to  the 
house,  in  which  I  left  her,  and  looked  at  the  spot  where  we 


THE    DESOLATED    HOME.  337 

last  knelt  in  prayer,  and  where  we  exchanged  the  parting 
kiss. 

The  doctor  who  attended  her  has  removed  to  another  sta- 
tion ;  and  the  only  information  I  can  obtain,  is  such  as  the 
native  Christians  are  able  to  communicate. 

It  seems  that  her  head  was  much  affected  during  her  last 
days,  and  she  said  but  little.  She  sometimes  complained 
thus :  "  The  teacher  is  long  in  coming ;  and  the  new  mis- 
sionaries are  long  in  coming ;  I  must  die  alone,  and  leave  my 
little  one  ;  but  as  it  is  the  will  of  God,  I  acquiesce  in  his  will. 
I  am  not  afraid  of  death,  but  I  am  afraid  I  shall  not  be  able 
to  bear  these  pains.  Tell  the  teacher  that  the  disease  was 
most  violent,  and  I  could  not  write ;  tell  him  how  I  suffered 
and  died ;  tell  him  all  that  you  see ;  and  take  care  of  the 
house  and  things  until  he  returns."  When  she  was  unable 
Jo  notice  any  thing  else,  she  would  still  call  the  child  to  her, 
and  charge  the  nurse  to  be  kind  to  it,  and  indulge  it  in  every 
thing,  until  its  father  shall  return.  The  last  day  or  two,  she 
lay  almost  senseless  and  motionless,  on  one  side,  her  head 
reclining  on  her  arm,  her  eyes  closed;  and  at  eight  in  the 
evening,  with  one  exclamation  of  distress  in  the  Burman 
language,  she  ceased  to  breathe. 

February  7.  I  have  been  on  a  visit  to  the  physician  who 
attended  her  in  her  illness.  He  has  the  character  of  a  kind, 
attentive,  and  skilful  practitioner;  and  his  communications 
to  me  have  been  rather  consoling.  I  am  now  convinced  that 
every  thing  possible  was  done,  and  that,  had  I  been  present 
myself,  I  could  not  have  essentially  contributed  to  avert  the 
fatal  termination  of  the  disease.  The  doctor  was  with  her 
twice  a  day,  and  frequently  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  night 
by  her  side.  He  says  that,  from  the  first  attack  of  the  fever, 
she  was  persuaded  she  should  not  recover ;  but  that  her  mind 
was  uniformly  tranquil  and  happy  in  the  prospect  of  death. 
She  only  expressed  occasional  regret  at  leaving  her  child, 
22 


838  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

and  the  native  Christian  schools,  before  her  husband,  or 
another  missionary  family,  could  arrive.  The  last  two  days 
she  was  free  from  pain.  On  her  attention  being  roused  by 
reiterated  questions,  she  replied,  "  I  feel  quite  well,  only  very 
weak."     These  were  her  last  words. 

The  doctor  is  decidedly  of  opinion  that  the  fatal  termina- 
tion of  the  fever  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  the  localities  of  the 
new  settlement,  but  chiefly  to  the  weakness  of  her  constitu- 
tion, occasioned  by  the  severe  privations  and  long-protracted 
sufferings  she  endured  at  Ava.  O,  with  what  meekness,  and 
patience,  and  magnanimity,  and  Christian  fortitude,  she  bore 
those  sufferings !  And  can  I  wish  they  had  been  less  ? 
Can  I  sacrilegiously  wish  to  rob  her  crown  of  a  single  gem  ? 
Much  she  saw  and  suffered  of  the  evil  of  this  evil  world,  and 
eminently  was  she  qualified  to  relish  and  enjoy  the  pure  and 
holy  rest  into  which  she  has  entered.  True,  she  has  been" 
taken  from  a  sphere  in  which  she  was  singularly  qualified,  by 
her  natural  disposition,  her  winning  manners,  her  devoted 
zeal,  and  her  perfect  acquaintance  with  the  language,  to  be 
extensively  serviceable  to  the  cause  of  Christ;  true,  she  has 
been  torn  from  her  husband's  bleeding  heart,  and  from  her 
darling  babe  ;  but  infinite  wisdom  and  love  have  presided, 
as  ever,  in  this  most  afflicting  dispensation.  Faith  decides 
that  it  is  all  right,  and  the  decision  of  faith  eternity  will  soon 
confirm. 

I  have  only  time  to  add  —  for  I  am  writing  in  great  haste, 
with  very  short  notice  of  the  present  opportunity  of  sending 
to  Bengal  —  that  poor  little  Maria,  though  very  feeble,  is,  I 
hope,  recovering  from  her  long  illness.  She  began  indeed 
to  recover,  while  under  the  care  of  the  lady  who  kindly  took 
charge  of  her,  at  her  mother's  death;  but  when,  after  Mr. 
Wade's  arrival,  she  was  brought  back  to  this  house,  she  seemed 
to  think  that  she  had  returned  to  her  former  home,  and  had 
found  in  Mrs.  Wade  her  own  mother.     And  certainly  the 


THE   DESOLATED    HOME.  339 

most  tender,  affectionate  care  is  not  wanting  to  confirm  her 
in  this  idea. 

I  remain,  my  dear  mother, 

Yours,  in  the  deepest  sorrow, 

A.  Judsox,  Jr. 


On  the  24th  of  April,  just  six  months  after  the  death 
of  Mrs.  Judson,  little  Maria  was  laid  at  rest  beside  her 
mother. 

To  Mrs.  Hasseltine. 

Amherst,  February  26, 1827. 

Dear  Mother  Hasseltine  :  My  little  Maria  lies  by  the 
"side  of  her  fond  mother.  The  complaint  to  which  she  was 
subject  several  months  proved  incurable.  She  had  the  best 
medical  advice ;  and  the  kind  care  of  Mrs.  Wade  could  not 
have  been,  in  any  respect,  exceeded  by  that  of  her  own 
mother.  But  all  our  efforts,  and  prayers,  and  tears  could 
not  propitiate  the  cruel  disease  ;  the  work  of  death  went  for- 
ward, and  after  the  usual  process,  excruciating  to  a  parent's 
heart,  she  ceased  to  breathe  on  the  24th  instant,  at  3  o'clock, 
P.  M.,  aged  two  years  and  three  months.  We  then  closed 
her  faded  eyes,  and  bound  up  her  discolored  lips,  where  the 
dark  touch  of  death  first  appeared,  and  folded  her  little  hands 
on  her  cold  breast.  The  next  morning  we  made  her  last 
bed  in  the  small  inclosure  that  surrounds  her  mother's  lonely 
grave.  Together  they  rest  in  hope,  under  the  hope  tree, 
(hopia,)  which  stands  at  the  head  of  the  graves  ;  and  together, 
I  trust  their  spirits  are  rejoicing  after  a  sjiort  separation  of 
precisely  six  months. 

And  I  am  left  alone  in  the  wide  world.  My  own  dear 
family  I  have  buried ;  one  in  Rangoon,  and  two  in  Amherst 


340  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

What  remains  for  me  but  to  hold  myself,  in  readiness  to  fol- 
low the  dear  departed  to  that  blessed  world, 

"  Where  my  best  friends,  my  kindred,  dwell, 
Where  God,  my  Saviour,  reigns?" 

I  remain,  my  dear  mother,  yours, 

A.  Judson,  Jr. 

They  were  all  gone  !  His  "  meek,  blue-eyed  Rog- 
er," *  his  loving  little  Maria,  his  angelie  Ann,  had  all 
departed.  He  had  before  this  endured  sufferings,  both 
bodily  and  mental,  such  as  seldom  fall  to  the  lot  of  one 
man,  and  his  strong,  elastic  spirit  had  rebounded  from 
the  pressure,  with  even  increased  vigor.  But  as  the 
tree,  which  has  borne  unharmed  the  fury  of  many  a 
storm,  yields  to  the  lightning's  subtle  touch  at  its  core, 
so  was  it  now  with  this  great,  stricken  heart.  Instead 
of  depicting  this  period  of  Judson's  life,  we  would  fain 
sit  down  at  a  reverent  distance,  to  weep  with  him  in 
silence,  "  for  we  see  that  his  grief  is  very  great." 

What  his  wife  had  been  to  him,  from  the  day  when 
she  left  "  her  country  and  her  father's  house,"  to  share 
with  him  the  hardships  and  vicissitudes  of  a  pioneer 
missionary,  has  been  in  some  measure  shown  by  the 
foregoing  narrative.  But  to  estimate  the  strength  of 
the  tie  which  bjpund  them  together,  we  must  enter 
deeply  into  the  inward  characters  of  both.     She  was 

*  Born  in  Eangoon,  September  11,  1815;  died  May  4, 1816. 


THE   DESOLATED    HOME.  341 

not  merely  a  heroine,  competent  to  meet,  unassisted, 
the  most  sudden  and  formidable  emergencies,  to  over- 
come difficulty  and  danger  by  her  own  unerring  judg- 
ment and  steadfast  spirit,  to  awe  or  win  the  most  fero- 
cious of  human  beings  to  her  bidding,  to  influence  by 
her  commanding  intellect  the  decisions  of  a  haughty 
oriental  court ;  *  but  she  was  one  of  the  purest,  bright- 
est, sweetest  spirits  that  ever  gladdened  home,  and 
breathed  into  a  husband's  heart  the  sustaining,  inspir- 
ing life  of  domestic  love.  Her  character  in  this  respect 
has  been  imperfectly  understood,  owing,  in  part,  to  her 
possessing,  in  so  remarkable  a  degree,  qualities  not 
generally  supposed  to  exist  in  connection  with  it;  and, 
in  part,  to  her  singularly  reserved  simplicity  of  expres- 
sion in  words.  She  is  Shakspeare's  Cordelia,  with  all 
the  unconscious  loftiness,  scantiness  of  outward  profes- 
sions, and  serene  but  profound  depths  of  feeling  and 
affection,  of  that  matchless  picture  of  the  imagination. 
Her  words  told  but  little  of  her  heart,  but  her  heart 
wrote  itself  on  her  life.  Her  heroism  at  Ava  was  but 
the  expression,  on  an  enlarged  scale,  of  that  wifely  de- 
votion, which  had  linked  fond  and  tender  memories  with 

* "  Mrs.  Judson  was  the  author  of  those  eloquent  and  forcible 
appeals  to  the  government,  which  prepared  them  by  degrees  for  sub- 
mission to  terms  of  peace,  never  expected  by  any  who  knew  tho 
hauteur  and  inflexible  pride  of  the  Burman  court."  Dr.  Wayland's 
Memoir,  p.  373. 


842  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

every  period  of  their  union.  The  lonely  mission-house 
in  Rangoon,  where,  shut  out  for  years  from  civilized 
society,  her  heart  had  found  in  him  all  it  asked  of 
earthly  happiness,  tells  of  the  same  nature,  which  after- 
wards defied  danger  and  death  in  their  most  frightful 
forms  for  his  sake. 

Traits  so  noble  and  engaging,  associated  with  every 
feminine  charm  of  person  and  manner,  could  not  have 
failed,  under  any  circumstances,  to  secure  the  devoted 
regard  of  a  man  of  Judson's  exquisite  sensibility.  In 
his  many-sided  character,  the  capacity  to  do  and  to  en- 
dure, in  which  he  so  far  surpassed  ordinary  men,  was 
blended  with  an  equally  rare  delicacy  of  sentiment,  an 
impassioned  tenderness  of  nature,  which  rendered  him 
peculiarly  susceptible  both  to  the  joys  and  sufferings 
of  the  affections.  Sternly  resolute  as  he  was  in  duty, 
calm  in  danger,  patient  in  toil,  privation,  and  sickness, 
the  fearless  champion  of  principle  though  all  the  world 
opposed,  yet  a  touch  at  his  heart  made  all  its  fine 
chords  quiver,  and  his  tears  gushed  forth  as  freely  as  a 
child's.  What  must  have  been  the  affection  inspired  in 
such  a  man,  by  the  loveliness  and  devotion  of  tnat  an- 
gelic wife !  She  had  been  too,  his  most  congenial  as- 
sociate in  the  great  work  of  his  life.  The  same  divine 
affections  and  aspirations  burned  in  the  hearts  of  both, 
and  gave  a  oneness  to  their  being,  seldom  found  even 


THE    DESOLATED    HOME.  343 

in  the  happiest  conjugal  relations.  Not  only  had  she 
been  the  sweet  companion  of  his  home,  and  his  minis- 
tering angel  in  time  of  peril,  but  she  was  his  friend  of 
friends,  his  bosom  counsellor,  in  respect  to  those  labors 
in  which  he  stood  in  most  immediate  connection  with 
God  and  with  the  souls  of  men. 

And  all  had  been  taken  from  him  as  by  a  sudden 
blight.  How  painful,  too,  were  the  aggravations  of  the 
blow.  She  who  had  hung  so  many  months  round  his 
loathsome  prison,  wearing  out  her  frail  life  in  sicken- 
ing fears  and  toils  and  hazards  for  his  sake,  had  died, 
as  it  were,  forsaken  of  him  she  loved.  Among  stran- 
gers, without  a  kindred  bosom  to  which  she  might  com- 
mit her  darling  child,  without  a  Christian  friend  to 
strengthen  her  departing  spirit  with  the  gospel  prom- 
ises, she  had  met  the  last  dread  hour.  Her  plaintive 
lament  to  the  native  women  around  her  bed:  "The 
teacher  is  long  in  coming ;  and  the  new  missionaries 
are  long  in  coming ;  I  must  die  alone  and  leave  my 
little  one,"  must  have  brought  the  very  bitterness  of 
death  to  his  heart.  True,  he  had  left  her  only  in  obe- 
dience to  a  clear  conviction  of  duty,  and  in  accordance 
with  her  own  advice.  But  these  considerations,  though 
they  justified  his  absence,  could  not  touch  the  source 
of  anguish. 

He  found  the  circumstances  of  the  mission,  on  his 


344  ^     THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

return,  in  sorrowful  harmony  with  his  own.  Every 
thing  with  which  he  was  connected  seemed  to  have 
withered,  with  her  who  lay  beneath  the  hopia  tree. 
Amherst,  the  selected  capital,  founded  with  such  high 
anticipations  of  its  future  greatness,  and  which  he  had 
exultingly  dedicated  as  a  new  hill  of  Zion,  from  which 
the  glory  of  God  was  to  shine  forth  on  the  surrounding 
regions,  now  greeted  the  mourner  with  a  sympathetic 
aspect  of  desertion  and  decay.  The  decision  of  Sir 
Archibald  Campbell  to  make  his  great  military  station 
at  Maulmain,  a  little  town  twenty-seven  miles  further 
up  the  Salwen,  had  sealed  the  doom  of  Amherst.  Mr. 
Crawford,  from  whose  enlightened  views  and  warm 
personal  friendship  for  Mr.  Judson,  much  had  been 
hoped  for  the  mission,  thereupon  resigned  the  civil  gov- 
ernment of  the  provinces.  The  removal'  of  the  troops 
turned  the  whole  current  of  native  emigration  towards 
the  new  city.  Only  four  of  the  converts  were  found  in 
Amherst,  the  rest  being  dispersed  in  different  parts  of 
the  country.  Moung  Shwa-gnong,  and  several  other 
members  of  the  Rangoon  church,  had  previously  died 
in  Burmah.  Thus  every  circumstance  tended  to  foster 
his  dejection,  and  to  present  life  as  a  succession  of  de- 
luding hopes,  to  end  only  in  bitter  disappointment. 


CHAPTER  2££. 

PECULIAR   PHASE    OP   THE   RELIGIOUS    LIFE. 

Weeks  and  months  passed  away,  bringing  little  of 
the  alleviation  commonly  ascribed  to  time  and  useful 
occupation.  The  latter  he  had  tried  most  faithfully, 
for  with  him,  personal  affliction  was  no  plea  for  release 
from  his  Master's  service.  Two  days  after  his  return 
to  Amherst,  he  resumed  public  worship  in  Burmese ; 
and  never  were  his  labors  in  translation,  tract  writing, 
and  preaching,  more  abundant  than  at  this  period.  But 
life  was  still  rayless ;  nor  could  all  his  strivings  bring 
back  that  joy  in  his  work,  which  had  gilded,  as  with 
sunshine  from  heaven,  the  toil  of  previous  years. 

To  one  who  bears  in  mind  his  terrible  bodily  suffer- 
ings, and  the  unnatural  tension  of  his  mind  during 
those  two  years  of  strange  vicissitude  in  Ava,  followed, 
before  he  had  time  to  recruit  his  energies,  by  these 
overwhelming  bereavements,  it  cannot  seem  strange 
that,  the  strong  bow  at  length  gave  signs  of  yielding. 
I  envy  not  those  who  can  speculate  over  scenes  of  spir- 
itual anguish  and  conflict,  like  those  which  must  now 


346  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

be  briefly  depicted,  as  manifestations  of  eccentricity  of 
character.  They  are  scenes  on  which  the  heart,  that 
has  learned  any  thing  of  its  own  mysteries,  will  gaze 
with  trembling  sympathy  and  awe,  and  with  the  invol- 
untary prayer :  "  Sa»e  me  from  this  hour  !  "  It  is  the 
humbling  yet  ennobling  spectacle  of  an  earnest  soul, 
struggling  upward,  under  a  crushing  load  of  human 
sorrow  and  infirmity,  to  "  its  source  of  being  and  its 
Father,"  the  infinitely  holy  God.  If  he  made  mistakes 
upon  his  solitary  way,  where  he  saw  few  before,  and 
fewer  still  beside  him,  and  sometimes  trod  on  the  verge 
of  dangers,  upon  which  in  after  years  lie  trembled  to 
look  back,  these  are  our  waymarks  to  guide  us  in 
safety  along  on  the  same  path ;  not,  surely,  beacons  to 
warn  us  from  entering  it. 

Gradually  there  grew  on  his  mind  the  conviction, 
that  grief  for  an  earthly  loss,  so  firmly  fixed,  so  strong 
and  overshadowing,  could  have  sprung  only  from  a 
gigantic  root  of  selfishness,  which  drew  its  nutriment 
from  an  inordinate  and  sinful  worship  of  created  good. 
Looking  back  on  his  past  religious  life  from  this  stand- 
point, it  spread  out  before  him  as  one  fearful  develop- 
ment of  this  grand  error.  Earthly  pleasure,  honor, 
and  affection,  seemed  to  have  been  his  inspiration  — 
had  stood  to  him  in  the  place  of  God.  Not  that  he 
doubted  of  having  been   redeemed  by  the  Saviour's 


PECULIAR   PHASE    OF   THE   RELIGIOUS    LIFE.   347 

blood,  of  an  immortal  seed  planted  by  the  Spirit  in  his 
soul.  But  its  growth  was,  in  his  view,  that  of  a  feeble 
and  stifled  germ;  while  the  rank  plants  of  selfishness, 
under  the  name  of  innocent  natural  feelings  and  affec- 
tions, had  wound  themselves  round  every  fibre  of  his 
being.  *  He  had  loved  God  in  his  earthly  gifts,  not 
them  in  Him  ;  and  hence  it  was,  that  when  they  were 
taken  from  him,  the  divine  joy  had  vanished  also.  Such 
were  the  bitter  things  which  he  wrote  against  himself, 
in  this  hour  of  humiliation ;  nor  have  we  any  right  to 
question  that  they  had  a  foundation  in  truth.  Who  is 
so  holy,  so  in  harmony  with  God,  his  being  so  centered 
in  the  Highest  Good,  that  the  stroke  which  rends  from 
him  life's  most  cherished  object,  does  not  reveal  in  his 
heart  unexpected  depths  of  self-love  and  idolatry  of 
the  creature!  Much  may  already  have  been  nobly 
done  and  suffered  for  God ;  many  precious  gifts  may 
have  been  yielded  without  a  murmur ;  and  yet,  when 
that  last  tie  is  severed  by  the  faithful  hand,  the  soul 
has  to  own  in  tears  of  blood,  that  too  much  of  its  treas- 
ure has  been  garnered  below  the  skies.  But  let  it  be 
remembered,  that  it  is  precisely  those  who  have  made 
highest  attainments  in  holiness,  and  stand  nearest  to 
God,  who  see  most  in  themselves  to  condemn.  The 
purged  sight  beholds  glories  in  Him,  and  by  compari- 
son, loathsomeness  in  itself,  which  wholly  escape  the 
worldly  and  indolent  Christian. 


348  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

But  beyond  all  doubt,  lie  erred  in  ascribing  his  in- 
tense mental  sufferings  so  entirely  to  self-love.  It  was, 
in  a  great  measure,  a  purely  natural  effect,  the  inevi- 
table reaction  of  his  overtasked  powers,  for  which  he 
was  no  more  responsible,  than  for  his  original  constitu- 
tion. His  inferences,  too,  respecting  human  life  and 
duty,  and  the  spiritual  regimen  which  he  devised  for 
the  attainment  of  higher  sanctification,  betray  his  pecu- 
liar mental  condition  at  this  crisis.  Conceiving  that 
self-love,  the  great  rival  to  the  divine  supremacy  in  the 
.soul,  is  fed  chiefly  through  its  numerous  points  of  con- 
nection with  the  outward  world,  it  seemed  to  him  that 
the  most  direct  way  to  starve  the  monster,  was  to  stop 
these  avenues  of  supply.  Could  this  connection  with 
the  business  and  pleasures  of  life,  its  honors,  and 
earthly  objects  of  affection,  be  reduced  to  such  narrow 
limits,  as  would  barely  suffice  for  the  maintenance  of 
existence,  and  the  performance  of  religious  duty  to 
our  fellow-men,  the' enemy,  it  might  be  hoped,  would  be 
so  weakened,  that  the  soul  could  escape  its  grasp,  and 
rise  into  the  pure  regions  of  perfect  holiness  and  per- 
fect love. 

True  to  his  nature,  these  convictions  were  carried 
out  in  unhesitating,  uncompromising  action.  The 
right  hand  was  cut  off,  and  the  right  eye  plucked  out, 
without   parley   with    flesh   and    blood;    the   pain   it 


PECULIAR   PHASE    OP   THE   RELIGIOUS    LIFE.      349 

caused,  only  proved  its  necessity.  To  regulate  the  tend- 
encies of  his  ardent  nature,  and  cause  them  to  move 
as  living  forces  in  harmony  with  the  Supreme  will, — 
an  object  which  he  had  sought  with  earnestness  and 
singleness  of  purpose  through  his  whole  Christian  life, 
—  now  seemed  to  his  excited  mind  altogether  too  self- 
indulgent  a  process.  To  suspect  was  to  condemn,  and 
condemnation  was  followed  by  instant  execution. 

Some  of  these  judicial  proceedings,  while  they  show 
the  admirable  honesty  of  the  man,  cannot  but  provoke 
a  smile.  Becoming  suspicious  that  his  natural  love  of 
human  approbation  was  still  lurking  in  his  heart,  he 
burnt  whatever  testimonials  he  had  received  to  his 
character  and  public  services ;  among  others,  a  letter 
of  thanks  from  the  Governor-General  of  India,  for  his 
important  aid  in  the  negotiations  by  which  the  peace 
with  Burmah  had  been  effected.  So  far  as  possible,  he 
procured  the  destruction  of  his  own  letters  through  the 
previous  period  of  the  mission ;  obtaining  his  point  in 
regard  to  his  family  correspondence,  by  refusing  his 
sister  a  quitclaim  on  a  certain  portion  of  property,  till 
she  could  assure  him  that  his  wishes  were  complied 
with.  The  materials  for  a  biography  being  so  far  dis- 
posed of,  he  could  now  mortify  self-love  with  the  pros- 
pect of  going  down  to  posterity  as  a  commonplace  sort 
of  a  man,  about  whom  there  was  not  much  to  be  said. 


350  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

By  way  of  crucifying  his  excessive  love  of  neatness, 
which  was,  no  doubt,  too  great  for  his  comfort  as  a 
missionary,  —  though  there  is  no  evidence  that  it  ever 
interfered  with  the  performance  of  the  most  disagree- 
able duty,  —  he  became  a  frequent  inmate  of  the  filthy 
huts  of  the  Karens,  ministering  to  them  with  his  own 
hands  in  the  most  loathsome  forms  of  disease.  He  se- 
cured a  life  of  poverty  and  dependence,  by  a  donation 
of  his  entire  patrimony,  some  six  thousand  dollars,  to 
the  Missionary  Board.* 

But  these  cheap  acts  of  self-mortification  could  not 
satisfy  him.  On  his  return  to  Amherst,  finding  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Wade  in  occupancy  of  the  mission-house,  he 
became  an  inmate  of  their  family,  and  so  continued  till 
after  the  removal  of'  the  mission  to  Maulmain.  But 
detecting  at  length  some  little  tendrils  putting  forth 
from  his  poor  bereaved  heart,  and  clinging  round  these 
congenial  Christian  friends,  he  saw  in  this  an  alarming 
symptom  of  the  returning  power  of  self  and  the  world. 
Severing  at  once  the  healthful  ties  of  domestic  life,  he 
retired  to  a  little  bamboo  hut  in  the  edge  of  the  jungle, 

*  This  was  a  different  case  from  his  relinquishment  to  the  Board 
of  all  the  avails  of  his  services  to  the  English  government,  amounts 
ing  to  more  than  five  thousand  rupees,  which  he  justly  regarded  as 
the  rightful  property  of  the  mission.  So  scrupulous  was  he  in  this 
respect,  that  even  the  presents  made  to  him  in  his  public  capacity, 
not  less  than  two  thousand  rupees  more,  were  included  under  the 
same  rule. 


PECULIAR   PHASE    OF   THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.      851 

where,  with  the  exception  of  his  missionary  labors,  he 
spent  many  succeeding  months  in  almost  absolute  soli- 
tude, alternating  the  severest  study  with  vigils,  fastings, 
and  prayers.  Sometimes  he  remained  shut  up  for 
weeks  together  in  this  hovel,  which  he  had  named 
u  The  Hermitage,"  sustaining  life  on  a  scanty  allow- 
ance of  rice,  and  seeing  only  such  as  came  to  him  for 
religious  instruction. 

The  malady  of  course  increased  by  indulgence  ;  for 
the  penalty  of  doing  violence  to  the  nature  which 
divine  wisdom  and  goodness  has  bestowed  on  us,  is  not 
repealed  in  favor  even  of  the  purest  and  holiest  inten- 
tion. Being,  at  a  certain  time,  so  exhausted  by  study 
as  to  be  compelled  to  suspend  the  labor  of  translation, 
he  improved  his  constrained  leisure,  by  imitating  the 
Saviour's  forty  days'  fast  in  the  wilderness.  He  chose 
for  this  purpose  a  spot  in  the  heart  of  the  wild  jungle, 
far  from  the  abodes  of  men,  where  only  the  tramp  and 
cry  of  wild  beasts,  as  they  sought  their  prey,  interrupt- 
ed the  fearful  stillness.  A  moss-grown  temple  of 
Gaudama  overlooked  the  scene ;  but  even  the  most 
fanatical  devotee  dared  not  venture  thither  with  his 
offering.  So  dangerous  was  the  place,  we  are  told, 
that  the  native  Christians  regarded  his  preservation  as 
a  direct  miracle.  Here,  for  six  weeks,  he  spent  his 
days  in  fasting,  prayer,  and  the  study  of  the  Bible,  re- 


352  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

turning  at  night  to  his  scarcely  less  lonely  hermitage. 
This  stern  picture  is  relieved  by  a  touch  of  beauty, 
which  shows  how  strong  and  tender  was  the  affection 
which  he  had  inspired  in  the  native  disciples.  When 
he  reached  his  wild  solitude,  early  on  the  second  morn- 
ing, he  found  in  it  a  rude  bamboo  seat,  and  the  boughs 
overhead  woven  into  a  sort  of  bower  to  protect  him 
from  the  sun.  A  love  stronger  than  the  love  of  life 
had  moved  some  faithful  heart  to  track  his  wanderings, 
and  make  this  simple  provision  for  his  comfort ;  but 
with  such  cautious  delicacy  as"  to  create  no  suspicion  by 
whom  it  had  been  done.  Long  after,  it  was  discovered 
to  be  Ko  Dwah,  a  deacon  of  the  native  church  in 
Maulmain.* 

One  of  the  most  melancholy  evidences  of  his  pecu- 
liar mental  state,  is  seen  in  his  treatment  of  a  nervous 

*  The  following  note,  from  Dr.  Wayland's  Memoir,  cannot  be 
omitted :  "  This  man  was  devotedly  attached  to  Dr.  Judson.  Both 
were  taken  sick  at  nearly  the  same  time,  so  that  during  their  illness 
they  met  but  once,  and  the  old  deacon  could  not,  with  the  other 
disciples,  accompany  the  dying  pastor  to  the  wharf.  As  soon  as  Dr. 
Judson  removed,  the  house  which  he  occupied,  and  which  had  long 
been  condemned  by  Dr.  Morton  for  its  unhealthiness,  was  removed. 
Ko  Dwah  was  not  aware  of  the  circumstance,  though  living  in  the 
vicinity,  until  the  spot  was  left  bare.  He  then  insisted  on  leaving 
his  bed  to  look  upon  the  ruin.  He  hobbled  on  his  staff  across  the 
road,  ascended  the  chapel  steps  with  great  difficulty,  and,  then  sit- 
ting down,  rested  his  chin  on  his  palms,  and  burst  into  a  loud,  wild 
sort  of  lamentation,  like  the  wailing  at  a  funeral.  Neither  mind 
nor  body  ever  recovered  from  the  shock,  though  he  lingered  on  for 
some  time  longer." 


PECULIAR    PHASE    OF    THE    RELIGIOUS    LIFE.      853 

infirmity,  such  as  sensitive,  poetic  temperaments  so 
often  contract  from  some  accidental  shock,  or  misjudg- 
ing lesson  of  childhood,  —  a  haunting  dread  of  the 
physical  decay  and  corruption  of  the  grave.  This  now 
transformed  itself,  to  his  view,  into  one  of  the  hydra- 
heads  of  depraved  self-love,  to  be  crushed  out  of  ex- 
istence by  a  process  of  justice  without  mercy.  For 
this  purpose,  he  had  a  grave  dug,  beside  which  he 
forced  himself  to  sit,  hours  together,  following  in 
imagination  the  successive  changes  in  his  own  body, 
through  every  loathsome  stage  of  decomposition, 
"  weeks  and  days  and  months  after  death,"  till  the 
once  pampered  instrument  of  self  should  be  resolved 
into  its  native  dust  and  ashes.  Who  can  help  weeping 
over  this  spectacle  of  "the  strong  man  brought  low  ;  " 
of  that  noble  intellect  and  heart  reduced  to  feed  on 
such  poor  Romish  garbage  ! 

Through  this  whole  history,  indeed,  the  influence  of 
Romish  pietism  cannot  be  mistaken.  The  idea  of  en- 
tire self-abnegation,  of  absolute  repose  in  God,  to  be 
gained  only  by  the  crucifixion  of  every  human  passion 
and  affection,  had  dawned  upon  his  storm-tossed  spirit, 
like  a  ray  from  heaven,  revealing  a  far-off  but  attain- 
able haven  of  rest.  The  works  of  Madame  Guion,  and 
others  of  the  Quietistic  school,  became,  for  a  time,  his 
text-books  for  the  religious  life.  It  seemed  to  him, 
23 


354  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

that  a  superstitious  horror  of  Popery  had  not  only 
blinded  the  eyes  of  Protestant  Christians  to  the  purest 
models  and  guides  in  the  way  of  holiness,  but  to  the 
path  itself  by  which  alone  sanctification  was  to  be  at- 
tained. 

His  inward  life,  at  this  period,  mirrored  itself  in 
The  Threefold  Cord,  a  tract  somewhat  widely  dis- 
tributed, though  never  published,  in  this  country,  —  by 
which  he  sought  to  bring  the  subject  more  generally 
before  his  Christian  brethren.  This  exquisitely  writ- 
ten little  production,  in  which  the  prescriptions  of  the 
sternest  ascetic  piety  blend  with  the  purest  breathings 
of  evangelic  love  towards  God  and  man,  might  have 
come  from  the  soul  of  Pascal.  It  is  a  noticeable  fact, 
as  characteristic  of  his  state  of  mind,  that  the  study  of 
God's  own  word  forms  no  part  of  the  "  cord  "  which  is 
offered  to  the  Christian  as  the  sure  and  sufficient  means 
of  sanctification ;  while  "  the  inward  voice "  is  repre- 
sented as  the  highest,  the  immediate,  revelation  of  the 
divine  will.  This  could  not  have  happened  in  the  ear- 
lier or  the  later  periods  of  Judson's  religious  life. 

The  question  will  naturally  be  asked,  whether  he  at- 
tained, by  these  methods,  to  that  which  he  sought,  — 
the  consciousness  of  perfect  sanctification,  that  celestial 
repose  in  will,  affections,  and  passions ;  those  supernal 
joys  of  heavenly  communion,  expected  as  their  neces- 


PECULIAR   PHASE    OF    THE    RELIGIOUS   LIFE.      355 

sary  result.  The  two  following  notes,  written  on  the 
second  and  third  anniversaries  of  his  wife's  death,  will 
be  the  most  appropriate  answer.  They  seem  to  me 
among  the  most  pathetic  expressions  of  "  a  rooted  sor- 
row," ever  uttered  by  the  suffering  heart. 

Maulmaix,  October  24,  1828. 
"  My  dear  Sisters  M.  and  A. :  You  see  from  the  date, 
that  it  is  the  second  anniversary  of  the  triumph  of  death  over 
all  my  hopes  of  earthly  bliss.  I  have  this  day  moved  into  a 
small  cdttage,  which  I  have  built  in  the  woods,  away  from  the 
haunts  of  men.  It  proves  a  stormy  evening ;  and  the  deso- 
lation around  me  accords  with  the  desolate  state  of  my  own 
mind,  where  grief  for  the  dear  departed  combines  with  sor- 
row for  present  sin ;  and  my  tears  flow  at  the  same  time  over 
the  forsaken  grave  of  my  love,  and  over  the  loathsome  sep- 
ulchre of  my  own  heart 

October  24,  1829. 

"  And  now  the  third  anniversary  returns,  and  finds  me  in 
the  same  cottage,  except  it  has  been  removed  nearer  the  mis- 
sion house,  to  make  way  for  a  government  building.  I  live 
alone.  When  I  wish  to  be  quite  so,  Mrs.  W.  sends  me  my 
food ;  at  other  times  I  am  within  the  sound  of  a  bell  that 
calls  me  to  meals. 

4  Blest  who,  far  from  all  mankind, 
This  world's  shadows  left  behind, 
Hears  from  heaven  a  gentle  strain, 
Whispering  love,  and  loves  again.' 

But  O,  that  strain  I  have  hitherto  listened  in  vain  to  hear,  or 
rather  have  not  listened  aright,  and  therefore  cannot  hear. 

"  Have  either  of  you  learned  the  art  of  real  communion 
with  God,  and  can  you  teach  me  the  first  principles  ?  God 
is  to  .me  the  Great  Unknown.  I  believe  in  him,  but  I  find 
him  not" 


356  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

It  would  be  a  study  of  much  interest  and  instruction, 
could  we  trace  with  certainty  the  steps  by  which  such  a 
mind  found  its  way  back  to  spiritual  health  and  peace. 
It  was  probably  a  gradual  process  of  mental  and  phys- 
ical reinvigoration,  in  a  great  degree  unconscious  to 
himself.  Through  the  whole  course  of  the  disease,  if 
we  may  so  call  it,  the  great  organs  of  moral  vitality 
had  remained  unimpaired.  He  had  never  fancied,  for 
a  moment,  that  his  austerities  had  in  themselves  any 
merit,  or  formed,  in  the  slightest  degree,  the  ground  of 
acceptance,  with  God.  The  hand  of  faith  never  re- 
laxed its  hold  upon  the  great  sacrifice  offered,  once  for 
all,  for  the  taking  away  of  sin.  Nor  did  he,  in  the 
selfish  spirit  of  some  Romish  ascetics,  concentrate  his 
thoughts  on  his  own  inward  state,  making  his  individ- 
ual salvation  the  sole  end  and  aim  of  existence.  The 
following  beautiful  passage,  from  "The  Threefold 
Cord,"  is  a  true  picture  of  his  own  life,  even  during 
this  season  of  spiritual  conflict  and  darkness. 

"  The  third  is  the  cord  of  doing  good.  This  imparts  beauty 
and  utility  to  the  rest.  It  is  written  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
he  he  went  about  doing  good.  Art  thou  his  disciple  ?  Imitate 
his  example,  and  go  about  doing  good.  Do  good.  Let  this 
be  thy  motto.  Do  good  —  all  the  good  in  thy  power — of 
every  sort  —  and  to  every  person.  Regard  every  human 
being  as  thine  own  brother ;  look  with  eyes  of  love  on  every 
one  thou  meetest,  and  hope  that  he  will  be  thy  loving  and 
beloved  companion  in  the  bright  world  above.    Rejoice  in 


PECULIAR   PHASE    OF   THE    RELIGIOUS    LIFE.   357 

every  .opportunity  of  doing  him  any  good,  either  of  a  tempo- 
ral or  spiritual  kind.  Comfort  him  in  trouble;  relieve  his 
wants  ;  instruct  his  ignorance  ;  enlighten  his  darkness  ;  warn 
him  of  his  danger ;  show  him  the  way  of  salvation  ;  persuade 
and  constrain  him  to  become  thy  fellow-traveller  in  that 
blessed  way.  Follow  him  with  all  oflices  of  kindness  and 
love,  even  as  thou  wouldst  be  pleased  to  have  another  do  to 
thee.  Bear  with  all  his  infirmities.  Be  not  weary  in  well- 
doing. Remember  that  thy  Saviour  bore  long  with  thee,  and 
is  still  bearing  with  thee,  beyond  all  conception,  and  covering 
thy  pollution  with  the  robe  stained  with  his  own  blood,  that 
the  wrath  of  God  may  not  strike  thee.  And  when  he  thus 
forgives  thine  immense  debt,  canst  thou  not  bear  with  thy 
fellow-debtor  ? 

"  Do  good  to  the  Lord  thy  Saviour.  Is  he  far  beyond  thy 
reach  ?  True,  he  reigns  on  high  ;  but  still  he  lives  in  all  his 
members.  '  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me/  As 
thou  hast,  therefore,  opportunity,  do  good  unto  all  men, 
especially  unto  them  who  are  of  the  household  of  faith.  As 
a  true  follower  of  Christ,  seek  not  thine  own  profit,  but  the 
profit  of  many,  that  they  may  be  saved.  Since  Christ  has 
suffered,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  eternal  life,  extend  thy  good  wishes  to  earth's  re- 
motest bounds  ;  and  wherever  a  human  being  exists,  let  thy 
prayers  and  thine  efforts  combine  to  bring  down  eternal 
gfl  on  his  beloved  soul.  But  let  the  members  of  the 
household  of  faith,  whatever  be  their  language,  country,  or 
religious  denomination,  share,  in  thy  warmest  love.  Regard 
each  one  as  a  part  of  thine  own  dear  Saviour;  and  be  as 
happy  to  wash  his  feet  as  if  they  wen;  the  feet  of  thy  Lord 
hini.M'lt'.  Remember  that,  notwithstanding  present  imperfec- 
ta are  hastening  to  be  united  to  one  another,  and  to 
God,  in  a  manuer  most  ineffable,  even  as  God  is  in  Christ,  and 


358  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

Christ  in  God :  that  the  bosom  of  infinite  love  is  even  now 
opening  to  receive  you  all,  and  that  ye  will  all  bathe  together, 
for  endless  ages,  in  '  that  sea  of  life  and  love  unknown,  with- 
out a  bottom  or  a  shore." 

In  the  soul  thus  vitally  united  to  the  source  of  good- 
ness, and  thus  exercising  itself  in  perpetual  deeds  of 
goodness,  there  was  a  recuperative  energy,  which  could 
hardly  fail  to  restore  healthy  action  through  the  whole 
spiritual  constitution.  Whatever  was  morbid  and  sick- 
ly in  the  peculiar  phase  of  piety  which  he  had  adopted, 
gradually  lost  itself  in  the  growth  of  a  Christian  char- 
acter, which,  in  just  proportions,  in  the  perfect  balance 
of  its  rich  and  various  elements,  presents  an  unsur- 
passed example  of  Christian  manhood. 

Dr.  Judson  was  accustomed  to  refer  to  this  period, 
as  one  from  which,  notwithstanding  its  hazards  and 
mistakes,  he  had  derived  great  spiritual  benefit.*  The 
evidence  of  this  is  seen  in  his  whole  subsequent  his- 
tory.    How,   indeed,  could  it  have  been  otherwise  ? 

*  He  could  smile,  too,  at  its  extravagances,  —  the  best  of  all 
proofs  that  they  were  the  mere  incidentals  of  a  temporary  state  of 
mental  disease,  and  no  exponents  of  his  real  character.  When,  in 
1846,  he  visited  Hamilton  Theol.  Seminary,  the  professors  collected 
for  an  interview  with  him,  in  the  study  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Ken- 
drick.  In  the  course  of  a  free,  familiar  talk,  some  allnsion  having 
been  made  by  himself  to  this  period  of  his  history,  he  added,  in  a 
playful,  deprecating  tone,  which  seemed  to  ask  if  the  circumstances 
of  the  case  did  not  sufficiently  account  for  it:  "  You  know,  we  got 
into  a  rather  strange  state,  for  a  while,  some  of  us,  away  out  there  I  " 
The  quiet  smile,  and  the  manner,  said  much  more  than  the  words. 


PECULIAR    l'HASE    OF    THE    RELIGIOUS    LIFE.       359 

Errors,  in  the  choice  of  some  of  the  methods,  could  not 
hinder  the  substantial  realization    of  what  he    sought 
with  such  intensity  of  desire,  —  the  more  perfect  con- 
formity of  his  nature  to  the  will  of  God.     The  bless- 
ing came,  indeed,  in  a  form  very  different  from  the  one 
expected  ;  instead  of  blissful  absorption  of  self  in  the 
glory  of  God,  an  increased  sense  of  the  distance  be- 
tween the  infinite  and  holy,  and  the  sinful  and  finite ; 
instead  of  the  conscious  triumph  over  human  frailty, 
the  perception  in  himself  of  new  depths  of  innate  de** 
pravity  and  loathsomeness.     From  this  humbling  ex- 
perience,  he  rose  into  a  new  stage  of  spiritual  life. 
Then,  truly,  he  began  to  lose  sight  of  himself,  and  to 
find  his  all  in  God ;  and,  with  a  depth   of  meaning 
never  felt  before,  to  "  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the 
excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  his  Lord." 
The  life  which  developed  itself  out  of  this  new  inward 
state,  bears  no   trace  of  the  spirit  of  asceticism.     A 
more  beautiful  example  has  seldom  been  witnessed,  of 
that  true  mastery  over  the  world,  which,  while  it  ren- 
ders the  higher  nature  independent  of  the  earthly  and 
perishable,  permits  the  acceptance  of  every  gift  of  God 
with  confiding  thankfulness.     His  heart  opened,  with 
childlike  freshness,  to  all  the  solaces  with  which  a  Fath- 
er's goodness  had  smoothed  the  path  of  his. pilgrim- 
age.    His  social  affections,  once  so  sternly  repressed, 


360  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

as  rivals  to  the  supreme  love,  now  gushed  forth  in  the 
little  circle  of  congenial  hearts,  especially  towards  such 
as  were  in  affliction,  with  a  warmth  of  sympathy,  a 
depth  and  delicacy  of  sentiment,  which  imparts  a 
peculiar  grace  to  his  life  of  severe  and  self-denying 
labors. 

As  early  as  1830,  the  date  of  his  missionary  visits 
to  Prome  and  Rangoon,  we  perceive  a  new  tone  of 
vigor,  cheerfulness,  and  freedom,  in  his  letters  and 
journals.  After  his  marriage,  four  years  later,  with 
the  amiable  and  accomplished  widow  of  Mr.  Board- 
man,  the  change  is  still  more  marked.  The  exceeding 
loveliness  of  character  which  distinguished  the  second 
Mrs.  Judson,  joined  with  her  excellent  sense  and  fer- 
vent piety,  most  happily  adapted  her  to  be  the  com- 
panion of  this  period  of  his  life.  And,  as  years  passed 
on,  and  children  were  once  more  playing  in  his  home, 
those  little  ties  of  earthly  affection,  which  he  had 
thought  severed  forever,  bound  themselves  fast  around 
his  heart,  and  claimed  from  him  once  more  a  full  par- 
ticipation in  the  wholesome,  common  duties  and  pleas- 
ures of  life.  The  letters  belonging  to  the  period  of  his 
second  marriage,  are  in  themselves  sufficient  evidence 
that,  while  the  social  affections  are  heightened  by  piety, 
piety  itself  takes  its  most  symmetrical  and  healthful 
form  amidst  the  sweet  influences  of  human  love.     His 


PECULIAR   PHASE    OP   THE   RELIGIOUS    LIFE.      361 

public  labors  show,  that  they  are  no  necessary  hin- 
drance to  the  most  faithful  and  successful  prosecution 
of  a  great  life-work. 

In  some  respects,  Dr.  Judson  never  changed  the 
views,  and  the  strict  habits  of  life,  adopted  during  the 
period  just  reviewed.  His  standard  of  Christian  self- 
denial,  illustrated  in  his  own  severe  frugality,  and  bis 
{KiH-ttnt  withdrawal  from  English  society,  was,  by 
many,  deemed  unnecessarily  rigid  and  exacting,  and 
sometimes  subjected  him  to  the  charge  of  singularity. 
He  maintained,  too,  a  very  exalted  idea  of  the  spirit 
of  unconditional  submission,  without  restlessness,  im- 
patience, or  effort  to  escape  the  trial,  with  which  a 
Christian  should  receive  the  dispensations  of  Provi- 
dence ;  betraying,  it  might  be  thought,  a  continued  bias 
of  mind  towards  the  peculiar  notions  of  Quietism. 
But  his  life,  as  now  laid  open  in  his  private  correspond- 
ence, and  his  domestic  history,  reveals  a  character  re- 
markably free  both  from  eccentricity  and  austerity ;  a 
character  singular  only  in  its  wonderful  gifts,  and  in 
the  all-pervading  predominance  of  the  spirit  of  New 
Testament  piety,  —  supreme  love  to  God,  and  unlim- 
ited devotion  to  the  welfare  of  his  fellow-men. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

MISSIONARY   LABORS   IN   PROME   AND   RANGOON. 

To  do  full  justice  to  Dr.  Judson's  character,  the 
record  of  his  abundant  labors  during  the  period  em- 
braced in  the  two  preceding  chapters,  should  be  placed 
in  immediate  connection  with  them.  Within  the  two 
years  following  his  removal  to  Maulmain,  he  had 
gathered,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Wade,  a  church  of 
fifty  native  members  ;  most  of  whom  adorned  their 
profession  by  a  consistent  Christian  life.  Not  a  few  of 
them  had  endured,  with  steadfast  meekness,  opposition, 
revilings,  and  bitter  persecution,  for  the  name  of  Christ. 
"  The  husband  had  risen  up  against  his  wife,  and  the 
wife  against  her  husband ;  parents  against  their  chil- 
dren, and  children  against  their  parents."  Only  a  few 
of  the  many  interesting  cases  can  be  briefly  noted  here. 
One  man,  on  the  return  of  his  wife  after  her  baptism, 
tore  their  infant  child  from  her  breast,  and  pursued  her 
through  the  streets  with  a  knife.  The  brother  of  the 
first  native  chief  of  the  place,  was  among  the  converts ; 
a  man  of  most  respectable  standing,  of  ready  eloquence, 


LABORS  IN  PROME  AND  RANGOON.     363 

and  great  activity  of  mind,  who,  after  carefully  examin- 
ing the  systems  of  Boodh,  of  Brahma,  and  of  Mahomet, 
had  at  length  found  rest  for  his  soul  in  the  religion  of 
Christ.  The  persecution  he  encountered,  in  professing 
his  faith,  was  appalling.  All  his  relatives  rose  up 
against  him.  His  wife  sued  for  a  divorce ;  and  his 
brother  declared  that,  if  he  had  the  power,  he  would 
wash  out  the  family  disgrace  in  his  blood.  A  vener- 
able matron,  past  fourscore,  though  bitterly  opposed  by 
her  family,  on  whom  she  was  entirely  dependent,  was 
seen  "  hazarding  the  loss  of  a  respectable,  comfortable 
situation,  the  loss  of  character,  the  loss  of  a  shelter  for 
her  gray  head,"  and  "  with  tottering  steps,  bending 
under  the  infirmities  of  age,  doing  homage  to  the  King 
of  kings  in  the  baptismal  stream."  Out  of  the  mouths 
of  babes  and  sucklings  also  was  perfected  praise.  A 
little  girl,  eight  years  old,  is  mentioned  as  among  the 
clearest  cases  of  conversion.  She  also  received  bap- 
tism, though  under  a  threat  from  an  elder  brother  that 
he  would  beat  her  to  death.  Several  others,  not  much 
older,  resisted,  in  the  strength  of  the  love  of  Christ, 
the  most  urgent  persuasions  and  threats  of  their  hea- 
then parents ;  and,  after  baptism,  endured  in  silent 
submission,  the  most  outrageous  and  abusive  treatment. 
There  was  witnessed,  too,  in  several  cases,  the  miracle 
of  the  lion  changed  into  the  lamb ;  the  most  violent 


364  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

persecutors,  who  had  breathed  out  threatenings  and 
slaughter  against  the  disciples,  won,  by  their  Christian 
meekness  and  love,  to  listen,  to  repent,  and  to  rejoice 
with  them  in  a  common  Saviour. 

Such  was  the  second  Christian  church  which,  with 
the  aid  of  his  faithful  co-laborers,  Mr.  Judson  had 
planted  in  Burmah.  Jt  was  one  of  his  greatest  trials, 
as  has  been  before  noticed,  to  be  obliged,  by  his  duties 
as  a  translator,  to  forego  his  ardent  desire  of  devoting 
himself  exclusively  to  direct  missionary  labor.  "  Hap- 
py," he  exclaims,  "  is  the  missionary,  who  finds  the 
Bible  ready  translated  to  his  hands  ! "  The  longing  to 
preach  the  gospel  was  like  a  fire  in  his  bones.  It  is 
surprising  to  see  how  much  this  strong  impulse  accom- 
plished in  the  way  of  evangelical  labor,  without  neglect 
of  the  work  of  the  study.  His  chosen  recreation  from 
this  toil,  was  a  missionary  excursion  into  some  unex- 
plored field,  where  he  could  proclaim  the  glad  tidings 
to  ears  that  never  before  had  heard  the  joyful  sound. 
Sometimes,  when  he  could  not  quit  his  pen,  he  would 
gather  up  his  literary  apparatus,  and,  taking  with  him 
a  few  native  assistants,  fepair  to  some  lonely  outpost, 
where  he  could  at  least  send  out  his  messengers  into 
the  highways  and  hedges,  and  be  ready,  if  inquirers 
should  present  themselves,  to  direct  them  in  the  way  of 
salvation. 


LABORS   IN   PROJIE   AND    RANGOON.  365 

His  visit  to  Prome,  a  populous  ancient  city,  lying  on 
the  Irrawaddy,  half-way  between  Rangoon  aud  Ava,  a 
place  where  the  foot  of  a  missionary  had  never  trod 
before,  is  among  the  most  apostolic  passages  in  his  his- 
tory. The  account  is  given  in  the  following  letters  to 
his  friends  in  Maulmain  :  — 

"  I  proceed,  accordingly,  to  give  you  some  account  of  my 
adventures  since  leaving  Rangoon  on  the  29th  of  last  month. 
The  afternoon  of  that  day,  we  reached  Tix-theet,  twelve  or 
miles  distant,  and,  the  tide  being  against  us,  we  re- 
mained there  several  hours.  I  went  on  shore,  entered  into 
conversation  with  several,  and  gave  away  a  dozen  of  the  old 
tracts ;  and  it  was  amusing  and  gratifying  to  see  the  groups 
of  boatmen,  about  sunset,  employed  in  reading  and  listening 
to  the  truth ;  and  some  would  be  constantly  coming  to  our 
boat  for  a  tract.  I  could  have  given  away  a  hundred  to 
advantage  ;  for,  though  the  village  contains  but  very  few 
houses,  it  is  a  place  of  rendezvous  for  a  multitude  of  small 
trailing  boats.  At  mfcinigbt,  we  readied  the  cluster  of  villages 
about  Pau-ling,  containing,  I  should  suppose,  a  population  as 
large  as  that  of  Rangoon.  In  the  morning,  I  went  on  shore 
at  Kat-tet'-vah,  and  spent  a  couple  of  hours  in  preaching  to 
little  assemblies,  and  distributed  about  thirty  of  the  old  cate- 
chism. I  could  have  given  away  two  hundred  with  perfect 
ease,  and  to  the  greatest  advantage ;  for  they  would  have 
spread  from  this  central  place  into  every  part  of  the  country. 
It  is  my  way  to  produce  a  few  tracts  or  catechisms,  and  after 
reading  and  talking  a  little,  and  getting  the  company  to  feel 
kindly,  I  offer  one  to  the  most  attentive  auditor  present;  and 
on  showing  some  reluctance  to  give  to  every  person,  and  on 
making  them  promise  to  read  attentively,  and  consider,  and 
pray,  they  get  furious  to  obtain  a  tract;  many  hands  are 


366  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

eagerly  stretched  out,  and  '  Give  me  one,  give  me  one,'  re- 
sounds from  all  sides.  On  the  31st,  we  reached  Gnettong, 
near  the  great  river.  Just  became  engaged  with  a  few  peo- 
ple, when  the  master  of  our  boat  concluded  to  proceed  fur- 
ther. Gave  away  two  tracts.  One  of  them  fell  into  the 
hands  of  a  respectable  elderly  man,  who,  having  read  part 
of  it,  followed  us,  in  a  small  boat,  to  ask  for  something  more  ; 
and  I  gave  him  a  copy  of  Matthew.  Just  at  dark,  reached 
Yan-gen-tsan-yah,  at  the  entrance  of  the  great  river,  the  Ir- 
rawady,  fifty  or  sixty  miles  from  Rangoon. 

"  For  several  days  after  entering  the  Irrawady,  I  did  noth- 
ing scarcely,  on  account  of  the  rainy  weather  and  other  un- 
favorable circumstances.  At  Hen-tha-dah,  ninety  miles  from 
Rangoon,  I  walked  through  the  place,  though  it  was  very 
wet,  and  gave  away  a  few  tracts.  Moung  En  found  some 
relations  on  shore,  at  whose  house  he  and  another  of  the  dis- 
ciples slept ;  and  they  did  something  in  the  evening. 

"The  night  of  the  6th  of  June  we  spent  at  Yay-gen,  a 
pretty  large  village,  just  below  Ka-noung,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river.  Here  the  native  country  of  the  tamarind- 
tree  commences,  the  banks  of  the  river  become  high  and 
pleasant,  nature  assumes  a  more  interesting  and  commanding 
aspect,  and,  at  this  distance,  even  the  character  of  the  people 
always  seems  to  me  to  be  a  little  more  elevated.  Immedi- 
ately on  landing  I  went  through  the  place,  but  without  any 
success,  and  was  just  coming  off,  when  I  descried  Moung  Ing, 
with  half  a  dozen  about  him.  I  drew  near,  and  very  soon 
had  a  large  and  respectable  assembly,  to  whom  I  held  forth, 
and  distributed  about  thirty  tracts  and  catechisms.  Several 
pursued  us  to  the  boat,  and  begged  very  hard ;  and  we  con- 
tinued to  give  away  to  small  parties  who  came  in  succession, 
and  occupied  an  empty  boat  which  lay  between  us  and  the 
shore,  till  late  in  the  evening,  when  our  captain  pushed  off 
into  the  river,  to  get  rid  of  the  annoyance.    However,  it 


LABORS   IN   PROME   AND   RANGOON.  367 

would  not  answer ;  for  they  came  to  the  shore,  and  called 
out :  4  Teacher,  are  you  asleep  ?  We  want  a  writing  to  get 
by  heart'  And,  on  being  promised  one,  if  they  would  come 
and  get  it,  they  contrived  to  push  off  a  long  canoe  which  lay 
between  us  and  the  said  empty  boat,  and  got  so  near  that 
they  could  reach  a  paper  stuck  in  the  end  of  a  long  pole. 
This  continued  till  nine  o'clock  at  night.  Once\  during  the 
evening,  our  captain  went  on  shore;  and  he  said  that  in  al- 

very  house  there  was  some  one  at  a  lamp,  reading 
aloud  one  of  our  papers.  I  felt  some  desire  to  pray  that  it 
might  not  be  all  in  vain.  It  cost  us  not  less  than  sixty  tracts 
and  catechisms.  Write  to  Maulmain  for  several  hundred, 
and  ask  brother  Bennett  to  get  ready  to  pi'int  another  edition. 
I  have  already  given  away  one  quarter  of  my  whole  stock  • 
and  I  shall  have  to  send  to  you  fl*r  a  supply  before  long. 

"  We  passed  the  large  towns  of  Ka-noung,  Myan-oung,  and 
K  \  an-u.ii,  without  being  able  to  do  any  thing.  But  at  Kyee- 
thai,  a  pretty  large  place,  I  went  on  shore,  and  got  the  start 
of  the  boat  by  about  an  hour,  which  time  I  improved  under  a 
died,  in  the  midst  of  an  attentive  crowd.     I  gave  away  sev- 

,cts.  Some  of  the  people  followed  me  to  the  boat,  beg- 
ging the  captain  to  .stay  all  night.  And  after  we  had  pushed 
off,  a  little  boat  pursued  us,  with  a  small  offering  of  rice  and 

begging  another  tract.  It  was  quite  dark  when  we 
arrived  at  Shway-doung,  one  of  the  most  populous  places  in 
the  country.  Above  Shway-doung,  we  came  to  the  ilourish- 
ing  villages  of  Pyouk-tsik  and  Mendai,  divided  by  a  small 
The  latter  is  our  captain's  home,  and  he  wished  to 
stay  a  day  or  two,  before  going  to  Prome,  which  is  only  a 
few  miles  distant.  The  people  at  Mendai  seemed  disposed  to 
cavil,  ami  some  of  them  treated  me  rather  uncivilly.  I  gave 
away  not  many  tracts.     Moung  Ing  went  out  to  Men-yoo-ah, 

hiil)   is  the  residence  of  the  celebrated  Toung-dwen 

,  the   head  of  a  sect  of  heretics  in  this  part  of  the 


368  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

country  ;  and  in  that  neighborhood  he  found  our  old  friend 
Mah  Zoo,  baptized  formerly  in  Rangoon.  The  next  morning 
she  came  to  the  boat,  accompanied  by  Mah  Wenyo,  widow 
of  Moung  Long,  the  one-eyed  metaphysician  formerly  men- 
tioned in  the  annals  of  the  Rangoon  mission,  who  now  declares 
herself  a  Christian,  and  one  Mah  Ping,  a  very  hopeful  in- 
quirer. These  women  all  begged  me  to  stop  one  day,  while 
they  could  return  and  consult  their  male  relations,  whether 
it  would  not  be  better  to  invite  me  to  come  to  their  village 
at  once,  without  proceeding  to  Prome.  So  I  consented,  and 
they  went  off.  In  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  I  had  a  crowd- 
ed zayat  on  shore.  One  man  appeared  to  be  impressed. 
But  there  were  many  cavillers,  and  some  discouraging  signs. 
At  night  the  women  came  back,  and  with  many  tears  said, 
that  the  chief  men  of  the  village  were  afraid  to  entertain  a 
foreigner,  lest,  in  case  of  war  with  the  English,  they  should 
be  involved.  The  next  morning  the  wife  of  the  governor  in 
these  parts,  having  heard  of  me,  sent  to  the  boat  for  a  tract; 
several  other  people  also  came  on  the  same  errand,  until  we 
left  the  place,  which  we  did  about  noon  ;  and  at  night,  the 
wind  being  contrary,  we  reached  this  place,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  miles  from  Rangoon.  I  landed,  and  found 
Mr.  M.,  the  only  European  residing  here ;  and  he  invited 
me  to  stay  with  him  a  few  days,  until  I  could  get  settled. 
The  next  morning  I  left  the  boat,  and  repaired  to  his  house. 
He  immediately  took  me  to  the  governess  of  the  town,  whose 
husband  has  lately  been  summoned  to  Ava.  In  her  presence 
I  found  the  deputy  governor  and  a  number  of  people.  I 
read  and  preached  to  them.  They  applauded  my  style  of 
reading,  &c,  but  seemed  to  be  more  taken  with  the  sound 
than  the  sense.  The  governess,  however,  was  evidently  im- 
pressed. She  begged  for  the  tract,  that  she  might  get  it 
copied.  I  presented  it  to  her,  and  she  received  it  thankfully. 
Thence  I  proceeded  to  various  places,  in  search  of  a  house 


LABORS  IN  PROME  AND  RANGOON.     369 

to  be  let,  but  was  unsuccessful.  The  people  are  afraid  to 
have  any  connection  with  a  foreigner.  Ever  since  Major 
Burney  passed  up  to  Ava,  the  country  has  been  full  of  all 
manner  of  rumors  and  fears.  The  very  face  of  a  white  man 
spreads  general  alarm.  Mr.  M.  has  been  accused  of  being  a 
spy,  though  nothing  can  be  more  false  ;  and  it  was  even  pro- 
posed to  put  him  in  confinement.  I  find  that  the  same  sus- 
picion is  generally  felt  towards  me.  I  foresee  that  people 
will  be  afraid  to  come  near  me,  and  that  my  usefulness  here 
will,  on  that  account,  be  greatly  impeded.  Add  to  this  that 
the  town  has  been  so  dreadfully  oppressed  to  pay  their  con- 
tingent of  the  government  debt,  that  poverty,  distress, 
and  terror  are  the  order  of  the  day.  However,  the  walls 
of    Jerusalem    have    sometimes    been    built    in    troublous 


"  Failing  in  my  attempt  to  hire  a  house,  I  went  in  search 
of  a  vacant  spot  to  build  on.  Fell  in  with  two  of.  the  first 
officers  of  the  place,  and  had  a  little  friendly  conversation. 
Found,  in  the  heart  of  the  town,  an  old,  dismantled  zayat,  in 
front  of  a  pagoda,  with  a  little  vacant  ground  around  it. 
Went  to  the  (h-pu/y  governor,  presented  him  with  a  tract, 
and  warned  him  not'  to  be  intoxicated  with  worldly  splendor, 
for  life  was  short,  &c.  He  read  part  of  the  tract,  and  said 
that  my  words  were  very  proper.  One  of  my  people  re- 
spectfully requested  leave  to  repair  the  old  zayat  for  the  resi- 
dence of  the  kalah  pong-gyee,  until  he  should  proceed  to 
Ava.  The  governor  was  disposed  to  be  kind ;  but  fearing,  I 
suppose,  for  the  reasons  above  mentioned,  to  do  any  thing  on 
his  own  responsibility,  said  that  he  would  bring  forward  my 
business  in  the  court  house,  the  next  day,  before  the  assem- 
bled authorities  of  the  place. 

"  Notwithstanding  this  promise,  however,  nothing  was  done 
the  next  day  ;  and,  it  being  Lord's  day,  I  stayed  at  home,  had 
usual  worship  with  my  people,  and  tried  to  study  patience 
2-i 


370  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

and  Thomas  a  Kempis  in  the  shattered  house  that  Mr.  M. 
occupies,  with  the  rain  beating  in  on  every  side. 

"  On  Monday,  that  is,  yesterday,  I  went  myself  to  the 
court  house,  and  found  the  magistrates  assembled,  each  sit- 
ting at  his  post,  in  Burman  style,  and  the  deputy  governor 
in  the  centre.  He  pretended  not  to  see  or  know  me.  I 
waited  some  time,  and  in  an  interval  of  business  addressed 
some  of  the  inferior  magistrates.  An  inquiry  rose  who  I 
was,  and  what  I  wanted.  The  deputy  governor  began  slyly 
to  assist  me ;  and,  after  considerable  conversation,  it  was 
unanimously  agreed  that  I  should  be  permitted  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  old  zayat,  and  repair  it  for  my  present  resi- 
dence. From  the  court  house  I  went  to  survey  my  new  estate. 
I  find  it  to  be  forty-five  feet  long,  and  twenty  wide.  The 
posts  and  the  main  parts  of  the  roof  and  floor,  being  of  teakj 
are  still  extant ;  but  it  is  all  overgrown  with  wild  creepers, 
and  makes,  on  the  whole,  a  pretty  venerable  ruin.  It  stands 
on  holy  ground,  occupying  one  corner  of  the  inclosure  of  a 
pagoda ;  which  corner  I  am  to  surround  with  a  fence,  and 
thus  have  an  inclosure  about  four  times  larger  than  the  ruin 
itself.  This  morning  I  am  sending  out  people  to  beg  mate- 
rials and  engage  workmen  to  make  the  place  habitable  as 

soon  as  possible." 

"  Prome,  June  26,  1830. 

"  Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters  :  To-day  I  have  taken 
possession  of  the  old  zayat  allowed  me  by  government,  as 
stated  in  my  last.  Part  of  it  we  have  inclosed  in  rooms,  and 
the  other  part  we  have  left  open  for  the  reception  of  com- 
pany. Several  people  accosted  us,  as  they  passed :  '  So  you 
have  moved,  have  you  ?  We  shall  come  and  see  you  before 
long.'  There  are  at  present  no  hopeful  inquirers ;  but  some 
visitors  from  Men-dai  and  Men-yoo-ah  approximate  towards 
that  character. 

"  June  27,  Lord's  day.     After  usual  worship  with  the  dis- 


LABORS  IN  PROME  AND  RANGOON.     371 

ciples,  I  went  to  spend  the  day,  it  being  Burman  day  of  wor- 
ship, at  the  great  Shway  San-dau  pagoda,  which  is  the  same 
to  Prome  that  Shway  Da-gong  is  to  Rangoon,  and  Kyaik 
Thanlan  to  Maulmain.  The  zayat  which  we  occupied  had 
many  visitors,  and  some  heard  with  attention. 

"  July  2.  A  great  change  has  taken  place  in  the  minds 
of  government  people  towards  me.  Satan  has  industriously 
circulated  a  report  that  I  am  a  spy  in  pay  of  the  British. 
Last  night  the  deputy  governor  sent  to  inquire  my  name  and 
title.  This  morning  I  waited  on  him,  and  on  the  lady  gov- 
erness, but  met  with  a  very  cold  reception  at  both  places. 
The  deputy  governor  is  probably  reporting  me  to  Ava ;  and 
what  the  consequences  will  be,  I  know  not.  Several  visitors, 
who  began  to  listen  with  some  favorable  disposition,  have 
suddenly  fallen  off.     To-day  I  have  had  no  company  at  all. 

"  July  3.  Pastor  Ing  returned  from  a  visit  to  Men-yoo-ah. 
He  says  that  the  same  suspicion  is  spreading  all  over  the 
country.  Even  the  women  mentioned  in  my  last,  were  afraid 
to  have  any  communication  with  him.  By  forcing  his  way, 
he  managed  to  sleep  two  nights  at  the  house  of  the  Toung- 
dwen  teacher,  and  had  some  conversation  with  him  and  his 
people  on  the  subject  of  religion.  But  the  teacher,  though 
not  a  regular  Boodhist,  feels  his  consequence,  as  the  head  of 
a  sect,  and  is  perhaps  as  far  from  candid  consideration  as  the 
most  bigoted  priest.  Pastor  Ing  says  that  the  country  is  full 
of  villages,  and  there  is  some  disposition  to  listen  to  religion, 
put  that  in  the  present  state  of  the  public  mind,  if  I  should 
make  the  tour  of  these  parts,  as  I  had  some  intention  of 
doing,  there  is  not  a  house  where  the  owner  would  dare  to 
ask  me  to  sit  down  at  the  entrance  of  the  door. 
.  "  Feel  extremely  dejected  this  evening.  Never  so  heartily 
willing  to  enter  into  my  rest,  yet  willing  to  oiFer,  and  I  do, 
with  some  peculiar  feelings,  oiler  my  poor  life  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  to  do  and  to  suffer  whatever  he  shall  appoint, 


372  THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

during  my  few  remaining  days.  My  followers  feel  some 
courage  yet ;  for  they  have,  I  hope,  a  little  faith,  and  they 
know,  also,  that  whatever  storm  comes,  it  will  beat  upon  their 
teacher  first. 

"  July  4,  Lord's  day.  Another  Burman  day  of  worship, 
and  a  great  day,  being  the  first  day  of  lent,  a  season  which 
continues  three  months.  After  usual  worship,  took  a  stroll 
through  the  place.  All  smiles  and  looks  of  welcome  are 
passed  away ;  people  view  me  with  an  evil  eye,  and  suffer 
their  dogs  to  bark  at  me  unchecked.  Near  Shvvay  San-dau, 
the  zayats  were  crowded  with  devout-faced  worshippers.  I 
found  a  vacant  place  under  a  shed  built  over  a  large  brick 
idol,  and,  sitting  down  on  the  ground,  I  held  converse  with 
small  parties,  who  came  around  in  succession.  Some  com- 
pany, also,  morning  and  evening,  at  home.  I  cannot  but 
hope  that  two  persons  have  this  day  obtained  some  discovery 
of  the  way  of  salvation  through  a  crucified  Saviour.  But  it 
is  really  affecting  to  see  a.  poor  native  when  he  first  feels  the 
pinch  of  truth.  On  one  side  he  sees  hell ;  on  the  other  side, 
ridicule,  reproach,  confiscation  of  goods,  imprisonment,  and 
death. 

"  July  7.  Moung  A,  one  of  the  persons  last  mentioned, 
comes  every  day.  He  seems  to  be  quite  taken  with  the 
Christian  religion,  but  says  he  cannot  think  of  embracing  it, 
until  the  learned  and  the  great  lead  the  way. 

"  July  8.  Many  visitors  through  the  day,  in  consequence 
of  a  festival  held  in  the  vicinity.  Moung  A  begins  to  speak 
decidedly  for  Christ. 

"  July  9.  Having  agreed  that  two  or  three  of  our  number 
shall  go  out  every  day,  in  different  directions,  and  preach  the 
gospel,  whether  the  people  will  hear  or  forbear,  my  lot  fell  in 
a  public  zayat,  about  a  mile  from  home,  near  Shway  San-dau, 
where  I  had  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  hearers  from 
morning  till  night.     Pastor  Ing  and  Moung  Dway  were  sue- 


LABORS  IN  PROME  AND  RANGOON.      373 

cessfully  engaged  in  another  quarter,  and  Moung  En  had 
some  company  at  home.  I  presume  that  a  hundred  and  fifty 
people  have  this  day  heard  the  gospel  intelligibly,  -who  never 
heard  it  before. 

"July  10.  The  same  as  yesterday,  except  that,  being  ill, 
I  left  the  zayat  about  noon.  Moung  A  was  with  me  in  the 
afternoon.  His  case  is  becoming  extremely  interesting.  He 
is  a  bright  young  man,  with  a  small  family,  formerly  belonged 
to  Cicsar's  household,  and  bore  a  considerable  title,  which 
was  forfeited  through  false  accusation.  He  began  last  night. 
to  pray  to  the  eternal  God. 

"  July  1 1 ,  Lord's  day.  Several  came  in  during  worship, 
and  behaved  decently,  though  they  would  not  put  themselves 
into  a  devotional  posture,  or  join  in  the  responses.  One 
man,  in  particular,  professed  to  be  excessively  delighted  with 
the  new  and  wonderful  things  which  he  had  heard.  Moung 
A  present  at  evening  worship,  but  he  remains  in  a  very  crit- 
ical state.  No  wine  to  be  procured  in  this  place,  on  which 
'int  we  are  unable  to  unite  with  the  other  churches,  this 
day.  in  partaking  of  the  Lord's  supper. 

44  July  12.  A  Burma  day  of  worship.  In  the  morning, 
received  private  information  that  the  deputy  governor,  as  I 
conjectured,  did  actually  report  me  to  Ava.  If  any  order  be 
given  immediately,  whether  favorable  or  unfavorable,  it  may 
be  expected  in  the  course  of  a  fortnight.  Felt  rather  deject- 
ed, but  endeavored  to  put  my  trust  in  God,  and  resolve  to 
work  while  the  day  lasts.  The  zayats  being  all  full  of  wor- 
shippers, I  took  my  seat  on  a  brick  under  the  shed  over  the 
great  idol,  and,  from  morning  till  night,  crowd  succeeded 
crowd.  Some  became  outrageously  angry,  and  some  listened 
with  delight.  •  Some  said,  lie  is  a  good  man  ;  but  others 
said,  Nay,  he  deceiveth  the  people.'  About  noon,  beard 
Moung  Dway's  voice  on  the  other  side  of  the  idol.  Pastor 
Ing  was  busy  in  another  quarter.     At  home,  Moung  En  re- 


374  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

ceived  a  visit  from  Myat-pyoo,  one  of  the  two  persons  men- 
tioned on  the  4th.  He  is  sixty-nine  years  old,  a  little  deaf, 
very  timid  and  retiring.  My  expectations  of  him  are  not 
disappointed.  He  says  that  he  thinks  this  is  the  true  religion, 
and  the  only  one  that  provides  a  way  of  escape  from  hell,  of 
which  he  is  exceedingly  afraid,  in  consequence  of  his  many, 
many  sins. 

"  July  13.  Took  up  my  position  at  my  favorite  zayat.  It 
stands  at  the  crossing  of  two  great  roads,  the  one  leading 
•from  the  river  side  to  Shway  San-dau,  and  the  other  from 
the  town  to  the  place  of  burying,  or  rather  burning,  the 
dead.  Several  funeral  processions  pass  every  day,  and  many 
of  the  followers,  in  going  or  returning,  stop  at  my  zayat  to 
rest.  To-day  there  was  a  funeral  of  distinction,  and  all  the 
officers  of  government,  with  their  respective  suites,  attended. 
In  consequence  of  this,  the  crowd  around  me  was  greater 
than  ever  before.  But  they  were  not  hearers  of  the  right 
stamp.  Most  of  them,  being  adherents  of  government,  were 
rude,  insolent,  and  wicked  in  the  extreme.  A  few  consider- 
ate persons  remained  till  night,  particularly  one  man,  on 
whose  account  I  also  remained,  though  dreadfully  exhausted. 
He  has  been  with  me  two  days,  and  I  have  a  little  hope  that 
he  begins  to  feel  the  force  of  truth. 

"  July  14.  Another  day  of  hard  conflict.  The  enemy 
begins  to  be  alarmed,  and  his  forces  come  on  fresh  and  fierce, 
while  we,  few  in  number,  have  to  sustain  the  combat  without 
any  human  reinforcement.  The  spirit  is  willing,  but  the 
flesh  is  weak.  At  night  felt  an  entire  prostration  of  strength, 
so  much  so  that  I  was  unable  to  go  through  with  the  evening 
service  as  usual." 

"Prome,  August  23,  1830. 

"Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters:  Tired  of  minuting 
down  the  events  of  each  day,  I  have  written  nothing  since 
my  last  date,  July  16.    My  time  has  been  spent  in  the  same 


LABORS  IN  PROME  AND  RANGOON.     375 

way  as  stated  in  the  first  part  of  that  month.  At  one  period, 
the  whole  town  seemed  to  be  roused  to  listen  to  the  news  of 
an  eternal  God,  the  mission  of  his  Son,  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  the  way  of  salvation  through  his  atonement. 
A  considerable  proportion  of  the  hearers  became  favor- 
ably disposed.  At  length  the  enemy  assumed  a  threatening 
aspect ;  the  poor  people  became  frightened ;  many  sent  back 
the  tracts  they  had  received;  and  there  was  a  general  fall- 
ing ofF  at  the  zayats.  I  was  summoned  to  undergo  a  long 
examination  at  the  court  house,  not,  however,  on  the  subject 
of  religion,  but  concerning  all  my  past  life  since  I  have  been 
in  Burmah.  The  result  was  forwarded  to  Ava.  The  magis- 
trates still  preserve  a  perfect  neutrality,  in  consequence  of 
the  absence  of  the  governor.  At  Ava,  I  have  been  regarded 
as  a  suspicious  character,  ever  since  I  deserted  them  at  the 
of  the  war,  and  went  over  to  the  British.  I  know  not 
what  impressions  the  governor  of  this  place  will  there  re- 
ceive, or%  how  he  will  feel  towards  me,  when  he  is  informed 
of  the  noise  I  have  made  in  Prome  during  his  absence." 

"Below  Prome,  September  18,  1830. 

"Afloat  on  my  own  little  boat,  manned  by  none  other  than 
my  three  disciples,  I  take  leave  of  Prome  and  her  towering 
god  Shway  San-dau,  at  whose  base  I  have  been  laboring, 
with  not  the  kindest  intentions,  for  the  last  three  months  and 
a  half  Too  firmly  founded  art  thou,  old  pile,  to  be  over- 
thrown just  at  present ;  but  the  children  of  those  who  now 
plaster  thee  with  gold,  will  yet  pull  thee  down,  nor  leave  one 
brick  upon  another. 

44  The  government  writer,  Moung  Kywet-nee,  who  recom- 
menced visiting  us  a  few  days  ago,  has  been  hanging  about 
us  for  two  hours,  lamenting  our  departure ;  and  he  is  now 
sitting  alone  at  the  water's  edge,  looking  after  our  boat  as  it 
floats  down  the  stream.     4  Mark  me  as  your  disciple ;  I  pray 


376  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

to  God  every  day ;  do  you  also  pray  for  me ;  as  soon  as  I 
can  get  free  from  my  present  engagements,  I  intend  to  come 
down  to  Rangoon,'  are  some  of  his  last  expressions. 

"  The  sun  is  just  setting.  We  could  not  get  our  boat 
ready  earlier  in  the  day ;  and,  as  it  is  Saturday  evening,  we 
intend  to  proceed  as  far  as  Men-dai,  in  order  to  spend  the 
Lord's  day  there.  There  is  no  period  of  my  missionary  life 
that  I  review  with  more  satisfaction,  or,  rather,  with  less  dis- 
satisfaction, than  my  sojourn  in  Prome.  This  city  was  found- 
ed several  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era.  Through 
how  many  ages  have  the  successive  generations  of  its  dark 
inhabitants  lived  and  died,  without  the  slightest  knowledge 
of  the  Great  Eternal,  and  the  only  way  of  salvation  Avhich 
he  has  provided  !  At  length,  in  the  year  1830,  it  was  ordered 
that  a  missionary  of  the  cross  should  sit  down  in  the  heart 
of  the  city,  and  from  day  to  day,  for  above  three  months, 
should  pour  forth  divine  truth  in  language  which,  if  not  elo- 
quent and  acceptable,  was  at  least  intelligible  to  all  ranks. 
What  a  wonderful  phenomenon  must  this  have  been  to  celes- 
tial beings,  who  gaze  upon  the  works  and  dispensations  of 
God  in  this  lower  world !  It  was  necessary  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  divine  purpose,  that,  after  so  many  centuries 
of  darkness,  there  should  be  such  an  exhibition  of  light  as 
has  been  made,  and  no  more.  Thousands  have  heard  of 
God  who  never,  nor  their  ancestors,  heard  before.  Fre- 
quently, in  passing  through  the  streets,  and  in  taking  my 
seat  in  the  zayats,  I  have  felt  such  a  solemnity  and  awe  on 
my  spirit,  as  almost  prevented  me  from  opening  my  lips  to 
communicate  the  momentous  message  with  which  I  Avas 
charged.  How  the  preacher  has  preached,  and  how  the 
hearers  have  heard,  the  day  of  judgment  will  show.  O,  how 
many  will  find  their  everlasting  chains  more  tight  and  intol- 
erable on  account  of  the  very  warnings  and  entreaties  they 
have  received  from  my  lips !    But  what  more  can  be  done 


LABORS    IN   PROME    AND    RANGOON.  377 

than  has  been  clone  ?  Though  warned  and  entreated,  they 
have  wilfully,  obstinately,  and  blasphemously  refused  to  lis- 
ten. But,  blessed  be  God,  there  are  some  whose  faces  I  ex- 
pect to  see  at  the  right  hand  of  the  great  Judge.  The  young 
man  just  mentioned,  the  carpenter,  Moung  Shway-hlah,  a 
poor  man,  by  name  Moung  Oo,  in  addition  to  some  others 
mentioned  in  former  letters,  give  us  reason  to  hope  that  they 
have  received  the  truth  in  good  and  honest  hearts.  Many 
also  there  are  who  have  become  so  far  enlightened,  that  I  am 
sure  they  never  can  bow  the  knee  to  Shway  San-dau,  with- 
out a  distressing  conviction  that  they  are  in  the  wrong  way. 
Farewell  to  thee,  Prome  !  Willingly  would  I  have  spent  my 
last  breath  in  thee  and  for  thee.  But  thy  sons  ask  me  not 
to  stay ;  and  I  must  preach  the  gospel  to  other  cities  also,  for 
therefore  am  I  sent.  Read  the  five  hundred  tracts  that  I 
have  left  with  thee.  Pray  to  the  God  and  Saviour  that  I 
have  told  thee  of.  And  if  hereafter  thou  call  me,  though  In 
the  lowest  whisper,  and  it  reach  me  in  the  very  extremities 
of  the  empire,  I  will  joyfully  listen,  and  come  back  to  thee." 

Who  can  doubt  that,  while  Kincaid  is  gathering  in 
the  glorious  harvest  in  that  ancient  seat  of  idolatry,  he 
that  then  sowed  in  tears,  and  he  that  now  reaps,  are 
rejoicing  together  ? 

Being  driven  from  Prome  by  the  jealousy  of  the  im- 
perial government,  he  returned  to  Rangoon,  where, 
finding  no  missionary  on  the  ground,  he  remained 
through  the  next  ten  months,  chiefly  occupied  with  his 
translation.  An  interesting  picture  of  him,  at  that 
time,  is  furnished   by  Miss   Roberts,  a    distinguished 


378  THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

English  authoress,  who  happened  to  be  in  Rangoon 
during  the  year  1830. 

"A  Visit,  to  Mr.  Judson  in  1830. 

"  Being  unexpectedly  in  Rangoon,  in  the  autumn  of  1830, 
and  hearing  that  the  justly  celebrated  American  missionary, 
good  Mr.  Judson,  was  still  there,  with  indefatigable  zeal  pros- 
ecuting his  '  labor  of  love,'  in  the  conversion  of  the  Bur- 
mese, I  was  extremely  anxious  to  see  him ;  and,  having  in- 
formed ourselves  that  a  visit  from  English  travellers  would 
not  be  deemed  a  disagreeable  intrusion,  the  captain,  his  wife, 
and  myself,  immediately  proceeded  to  Mr.  Judson's  house. 

"  It  was  a  Burman  habitation,  to  which  we  had  to  ascend  by 
a  ladder ;  and  we  entered  a  large,  low  room,  through  a  space 
like  a  trap-door.  The  beams  on  the  roof  were  uncovered, 
and  the  window  frames  were  open,  after  the  fashion  of  Bur- 
man  houses.  The  furniture  consisted  of  a  table  in  the  centre 
of  a  room,  a  few  stools,  and  a  desk,  with  writings  and  books 
neatly  arranged  on  one  side.  We  were  soon  seated,  and 
were  most  anxious  to  hear  all  that  the  good  man  had  to  say, 
who,  in  a  resigned  tone,  spoke  of  his  departed  wife  in  a  man- 
ner which  plainly  showed  he  had  set  his  affections  'where 
alone  true  joy  can  be  found.'  He  dwelt  with  much  pleasure 
on  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  Burmese  language.  He 
had  completed  the  New  Testament,  and  was  then  as  far  as 
the  Psalms  in  the  Old  Testament,  which  having  finished,  he 
said  he  trusted  it  would  be  the  will  of  his  heavenly  Father 
to  call  him  to  his  everlasting  home. 

"  Of  the  conversions  going  on  amongst  the  Burmans,  he 
spoke  with  certainty,  not  doubting  that  when  the  flame  of 
Christianity  did  burst  forth,  it  would  surprise  even  him  by 
its  extent  and  brilliancy.  As  we  were  thus  conversing,  the 
bats,  which  frequent  the  houses  at  Rangoon,  began  to  take 


LABORS  IN  PROME  AND  RANGOON.     379 

their  evening  round,  and  whirled  closer  and  closer,  till  they 
came  in  almost  disagreeable  contact  with  our  heads ;  and  the 
flap  of  the  heavy  wings  so  near  us  interrupting  the  conver- 
sation, we  at  length  reluctantly  took  our  leave  and  departed. 
And  this,  thought  I,  as  I  descended  the  dark  ladder,  is  the 
solitary'  abode  of  Judson,  whom  after  ages  shall  designate, 
most  justly,  the  great  and  the  good.  It  is  the  abode  of  one 
of  whom  the  world  is  not  worthy ;  of  one  who  has  been  im- 
prisoned, chained,  and  starved,  and  yet  who  dares  still  to 
prosecute  his  work  in  the  midst  of  the  people  who  have  thus 
treated  him.  America  may  indeed  be  proud  of  having  given 
birth  to  so  excellent  and  admirable  a  man,  who,  amidst  the 
trials,  sufferings,  and  bereavements  with  which.it  has  pleased 
Heaven  to  afflict  him,  still  stands  with  his  lamp  brightly  burn- 
ing, waiting  his  Lord's  coming. 

"  If  there  be  any  man  of  whom  we  may  without  presump- 
tion feel  assured  that  we  will  hear  the  joyful  words,  '  Well 
done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant,'  it  is  certainly  the  pious 
Judson,  the  great  and  persevering  founder  of  Christianity  in 
a  land  of  dark  idolatry  and  superstition." 

Human  life  probably  presents  few  more  striking  con- 
trasts, between  the  outward  condition  and  the  real 
greatness  and  influence  of  an  individual.  The  occu- 
pant of  this  humble  dwelling  was,  at  that  very  mo- 
ment, wielding,  in  the  little  pen  which  plied  its  task  so 
diligently  from  hour  to  hour,  the  mightiest  agency  ever 
felt  in  Burmah,  —  a  power  to,  mould  her  destinies, 
greater  than  that  of  Britain  with  all  her  armies. 

But,  in  sight  of  the  moral  desolation  on  every  side, 
he  could  not  satisfy  himself  even  with   such  labors. 


380  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

The  missionary  fire  seems  to  have  burned  with  irre- 
pressible ardor  in  his  soul,  during  this  residence  in  Ran- 
goon. Besides  the  care  of  directing  the  native  evan- 
gelists, and  receiving  the  most  urgent  cases  of  inquiry 
at  his  house,  he  was  every  morning  abroad  at  sunrise, 
perambulating  the  streets  of  Rangoon  for  the  distri- 
bution of  tracts,  and  for  religious  conversation  with 
such  as  he  could  induce  to  listen.  The  result  was  most 
extraordinary.  At  first,  he  gave  away  between  fifteen 
and  twenty  tracts  a  day.  Gradually,  the  attention  of 
the  native  population  at  large  was  aroused,  and  the  tide 
of  interest  steadily  rose,  till  the  number  amounted  to 
two  or  three  hundred  daily,  given  to  none  but  those 
who  asked.  During  the  last  three  days  of  January, 
one  thousand  were  distributed,  "  given  only  to  those 
who  asked  earnestly."  By  cautious  inquiries,  it  was 
ascertained  that  they  were  in  almost  every  house  in  the 
city,  and  were  eagerly  read  in  secret.  Nor  was  this 
all.  The  leaven  seemed  to  be  silently  spreading  and 
working  through  the  whole  land.  With  all  his  pre- 
cautions to  secure  leisure  for  translation,  more  than  half 
his  time  was  consumed  by  visitors.  "  People  find  their 
way  to  me,"  he  writes,, "from  all  parts  of  the  country." 
"  The  spirit  of  inquiry  is  spreading  everywhere.  I 
sometimes  feel  alarmed,  like  a  person  who  sees  a 
mighty  engine  beginning  to  move,  over  which  he 
knows  he  has  no  control." 


LABORS    IN    PROME    AND    RANGOON.  381 

In  the  midst  of  this  excitement,  the  time  arrived  for 
the  great  annual  festival  of  Shwa-da-gong,  bringing 
innumerable  crowds  of  pilgrims  to  this  splendid  seat 
of  Boodhistic  worship.  Mr.  Judsou  was  now  in  his 
element,  eager  to  improve  the  opportunity  thus  offered, 
of  spreading  the  news  of  salvation  to  the  remotest  lim- 
its of  the  empire.  The  interest  which  pervaded  the 
town,  seized  upon  the  strangers  ;  and  so  great  was  the 
cry  for  tracts,  that,  though  he  distributed  ten  thousand 
during  ike  progress  of  the  festival,  the  demand  was 
not  more  than  half  supplied.  Not  far  from  six  thou- 
sand applications  were  made  at  his  own  door.  "  Some 
come,"  he  writes,  "  two  or  three  months'  journey  from 
the  borders  of  Siam  and  China :  '  Sir,  we  hear  that 
there  is  an  eternal  hell.  Do  give  us  a  writing  that 
will  tell  us  how  to  escape  it.'  Others  come  from  the 
frontiers  of  Kathay,  a  hundred  miles  north  of  Ava: 
*  Sir,  we  have  seen  a  writing  that  tells  about  an  eternal 
God.  Are  you  the  man  that  gives  away  such  writings  ? 
If  so,  pray  give  us  one,  for  we  want  to  know  the  truth 
before  we  die  ! '  Others  come  from  the  interior  of  the 
country,  where  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  little 
known :  'Are  you  Jesus  Christ's  man  ?  Give  us  a 
writing  that  tells  about  Jesus  Christ.' " 

A  few  of  his  c]±aracteristio  letters  will  best  depict  his 
labors  at  this  time. 


382  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

"  To  the  Missionaries  at  Maulmain,  particularly  Mr.  Bennett. 
"  Eangoon,  November  13,  1830. 
"  Dear  Brethren  :  I  wrote  to  you  lately  by  Ko  Ing,  since 
which  I  have  received  yours  by  Moung  En.  We  continue  to 
distribute  about  forty  tracts  a  day,  and  should  gladly  double 
the  number  if  we  could  depend  on  a  supply  from  Maulmain. 
By  tracts,  I  mean  not  the  single  sheets  or  handbills,*  contain- 
ing merely  a  scrap  of  Scripture,  which,  being  wholly  inade- 
quate to  give  any  full  idea  of  the  Christian  religion,  it  is  im- 
possible to  mock  any  poor  soul  with,  when  he  holds  out  his 
hand  for  such  spmtual  food  as  his  case  requires.  They  do 
well  enough  among  the  converts ;  and  if  you  find  they  are 
useful  in  your  parts,  I  shall  be  happy  to  send  you  back  those 
I  have  on  hand,  for  there  is  no  demand  for  that  article  here 
in  the  present  state  of  the  mission.  .  .  .  But  by  tracts,  I 
mean  The  View,  The  Catechism,  The  Balance,  and  The  In- 
vestigator. I  earnestly  beg  the  brethren  to  wake  up  to  the 
importance  of  sending  a  regular  supply  of  all  these  articles. 
How  long  we  shall  be  allowed  a  footing  in  Rangoon,  is  very 
uncertain.  While  a  missionary  is  here,  a  constant  stream 
ought  to  be  poured  into  the  place.  Rangoon  is  the  key  of 
the  country.  From  this  place  tracts  go  into  every  quarter. 
I  could  write  sheets  on  the  subject,  but  I  trust  that  it  is  un- 
necessary. Six  weeks  have  elapsed  since  I  wrote  for  The 
Balance,  and  for  a  few  only,  as  I  did  not  wish  to  distress  any 
one ;  and  though  it  was  then  out  of  print,  it  is  not  yet  put 
to  press.  And  why?  Because  The  Epitome  has  been  in 
the  way.  I  am  glad  The  Epitome  is  printed;  but,  after 
all,  we  shall  not  give  away  one  a  week  of  that  article.  The 
state  of  things  does  not  immediately  require  it.  But  of  The 
Balance  I  shall  give  away  one  hundred  a  week.  There  are 
daily  calls  for  it.     During  the  last  six  weeks  I  should  have 

*  Two  pages  tracts  of  Scripture  Extracts. 


LABORS    IN    PROME    AND    RANGOON.  383 

given  away  one  thousand  of  The  Balance,  and  they  would 
now  be  circulating  all  over  the  country.  I  found  twenty  in 
the  house  on  my  arrival,  and  have  been  dealing  them  out 
like  drops  of  hearts'  blood.  There  are  few  left.  I  did  ex- 
pect some  by  Moung  En  ;  but  alas  !  out  popped  two  bundles 
of  scrippets*  The  book  of  Scripture  Extracts,  however,  I 
am  thankful  for.  I  do  not  write  this  with  any  disposition  to 
find  fault.  I  am  sure  you  have  done  all  for  the  best ;  and  I 
feel  for  brother  Bennett  in  his  labors  at  the  press.  I  only 
blame  myself  that  I  have  not  been  more  explicit,  and  written 
more  urgently  on  the  subject. 

"  Yours  ever,  A.  Judson." 

"  To  the  Missionaries  at  Maulmain. 

"  Rangoon,  November  16, 1830. 
"  Dear  Brethren  :  We  were  obliged  to  give  away  ninety- 
five  tracts  and  Scriptures  yesterday,  besides  refusing  several. 
This  morning  I  took  twenty  in  my  hand,  as  usual,  and  though 
I  avoided  streets,  and  kept  to  the  jungle,  and  walked  as  fast 
as  possible,  yet,  notwithstanding  every  precaution,  they 
fleeced  me  of  fifteen  by  sunrise.  We  shall  not  be  able  to 
stand  it  longer  than  fifteen  or  twenty  days  at  this  rate. 
They  come  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  thing  is 
spreading  and  increasing  every  day.  I  hope  you  will  not  fail 
me  in  the  hour  of  need.  We  want  thousands  of  The  Cate- 
chism, The  View,  The  Balance,  and  The  Investigator.  Next 
to  these  we  shall  want  a  thousand  or  two  of  the  Gospel  of 
Luke,  that  is,  after  the  Scripture  Extracts  are  done*  which 
will  be  shortly,  if  you  will  only  send  them  along.  I  am  more 
and  more  convinced  that  Bunnah  is  to  be  evangelized  by 
tracts  and  portions  of  Scripture.  They  are  a  reading  people 
beyond  any  other  in  India.     The  press  is  the  grand  engine 

*  The  two-page  tracts  mentioned  above. 


384  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

for  Burmah.  Every  pull  of  brother  Bennett  at  the  press, 
sends  another  ray  of  light  through  the  darkness  of  the  em- 
pire. I  write  in  a  hurry,  for  I  am  in  the  middle  of  the 
sixty-fifth  Psalm  ;  and  though  I  keep  snug  in  the  garret,  I 
have  had,  within  an  hour,  one  man  from  Mad-dee-yah,  who 
has  come  for  tracts,  having  heard  the  gospel  from  one  of  the 
disciples  at  Prome,  a  writer  from  Kyouk-mau,  brought  hither 
by  your  inquirer,  Moung  Louk,  a  disciple  from  An-au-len, 
and  Moung  Hming,  from  Pan-ta-nau,  who  requests  baptism, 
and  brings  also  a  message  and  request  for  tracts  from  Nah- 
kau-dau,  who  says  he  heard  about  Jesus  Christ  from  a  for- 
eigner *  at  Prome.  And  as  I  am  alive,  here  comes  at  this 
moment  a  priest  and  his  followers.     So  farewell, 

"Yours,  A.  Judson." 

"  Rangoon,  February  1, 1831. 

"  Dear  Brethren  :  The  great  festival  falls  this  year  on 
the  25th.  Alas !  alas  !  what  shall  I  do  ?  I  beg  and  entreat 
that  you  will  not  give  any  tracts  in  the  vicinity  of  Maulmain, 
until  after  the  1st  of  March ;  but  let  every  thing  that  can 
possibly  be  got  ready,  be  sent  with  all  possible  expedition  to 
this  place.  I  do  beg  you  will  all  make  one  effort,  and,  if 
possible,  send  me  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  tracts  between 
this  and  the  25th  or  28th.  The  festival  will  last  several  days. 
I  have  lost  all  hope  of  hoarding  up  my  present  stock.  We 
have  been  obliged  to  give  away  above  one  thousand  within 
the  last  three  days.  It  is  not  here  as  at  Maulmain,  where  a 
great  many  are  destroyed.  Here,  I  am  persuaded,  after  a 
great  deal  of  inquiry,  not  one  in  a  hundred  is  destroyed. 
The  people  are  eager  to  get  tracts.  We  don't  give  to  every 
one  we  meet,  as  you  do,  but  to  those  only  who  ask  earnestly. 
Don't  think  the  tracts  you  print,  and  stitch,  and  trim,  with  a 

*  "  Judson  himself,"  says  Mr.  Bennett,  in  a  note. 


LABORS  IN  PROME  AND  RANGOON.     385 

great  deal  of  labor,  and  send  here,  are  lost.     I  trust  that  the 
most  of  them  will  come  to  light  at  the  day  of  judgment. 

"  I  send  this  by  San-lone,  who  goes  around  in  Moung  G way's 
boat     He,  and  perhaps  the  same  boat,  will  return  soon  ;  I 
hope  in  time  for  the  festival.    Send  every  thing  you  possibly 
can,  and  by  every  other  boat  or  vessel  after  receiving  this. 
"  In  great  haste,  yours, 

"A.  Judson." 
"  To  Mr.  Bennett. 

"  Rangoon,  February  7, 1831. 

"  Dear  Brother  Bennett  :  I  wrote  lately  by  Moung  San- 
lone,  saying  that  the  great  festival  falls  on  the  25th  instant, 
and  begging  that,  until  tfJht  time,  no  tracts  might  be  circu- 
lated in  your  quarter,  but  that  every  thing  that  could  be  got 
ready  should  be  sent  hither.  If  you  listen  to  that  petition, 
well ;  if  not,  to  repeat  it,  with  all  the  urgency  of  a  dying 
man,  would  be  of  no  use.  We  were  giving  away  at  the  rate 
of  three  or  four  hundred  per  day,  until  I  became  alarmed, 
and  reduced  the  allowance  to  two  hundred.  We  are  just, 
therefore,  keeping  our  heads  above  water.  But  we  have  no 
hopes  of  being  ready  for  the  festival,  unless  you  pour  in  fif- 
teen or  twenty  thousand  more,  between  this  time  and  that. 
We  have  had  none  since  the  arrival  of  Moung  En.  He  and 
A  brought  good  supplies ;  but  alas !  no  Views,  and  but  few 
Balances  and  Investigators.  O,  when  will  the  time  come 
that  I  shall  have  as  much  as  I  want,  and  of  the  right  kind  ! 
I  have  labored  to  very  great  disadvantage  ever  since  I  came 
down  from  Prome,  for  want  of  the  right  kind  of  supply.  If, 
instead  of  printing  such  a  variety,  the  brethren  had  aimed 
only  at  furnishing  a  sufficient  supply  of  the  necessaries  of 
life,  how  much  better  it  would  have  been  !  I  should  not 
then  have  been  left  for  months  without  The  Balance,  or  any 
equivalent,  nor  be  left,  as  I  now  am,  month  after  month, 
without  The  View  —  the  staple  commodity.  How  distress- 
25 


386  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

ing  it  is,  when  the  poor  people  come  crying  for  the  elements 
of  the  Christian  religion,  to  be  obliged  to  give  them  one  of 
the  small  numbers  of  the  Scripture  Extracts,  which  singly 
can  give  them  no  idea  !  By  the  way,  I  beg  you  will  send  no 
more  of  No.  8  ;  it  is  just  good  for  nothing,  in  the  present 
state  of  things.  I  do  not  write  thus  by  way  of  finding  fault 
with  my  brethren  ;  I  am  quite  sure  that  you  have  meant  all 
for  the  best.  "  I  have  made  too  many  mistakes,  and  criminal 
ones  too,  all  my  life  long,  to  allow  me  to  find  fault  with 
others.  I  only  hope  that  things  will  now  be  kept  in  such  a 
train  as  to  prevent  my  being  reduced  again  to  the  straits  I 
have  been  in  for  several  months.  When  you  have  made 
arrangements  to  insure  a  supply  of  the  four  standard  articles, 
so  that  we  can  always  have  as  many  of  such  kind,  and  of  all 
the  kinds,  as  the  state  of  the  market  requires,  I  would  recom- 
mend to  the  brethren  to  issue  a  small  edition  of  three  thou- 
sand of  the  First  Epistle  of  John. "  I  once  thought  of  Luke  ; 
but  if  you  take  hold  of  that,  we  shali  be  left  to  starve  again, 
for  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  You  say  that  there  are 
fourteen  hundred  of  the  Scripture  Extracts  remaining ;  and 
these,  stitched  together  or  in  two  parts,  will  answer  to  give 
in  cases  where  something  more  than  the  four  standards  is 
required.  As  to  the  Septenary,  I  would  suggest  that  it  is  to 
be  kept  for  special  cases,  and  not  distributed  promiscuously, 
for  you  will  not  want  to  print  another  edition  immediately. 
It  was  not  intended  for  general  circulation,  but  to  be  kept  on 
hand  for  the  converts  and  hopeful  inquirers.  As  to  your 
plan  of  printing  The  Catechism  and  View  together,  it  is  most 
excellent.  You  cannot  furnish  too  many  of  that  article.  As 
to  The  Balance,  it  is  now  all  tjie  rage,  particularly  with  the 
cut.  I  suppose  you  cannot  clap  the  cut  on  the  covers  of 
those  that  have  it  not.  It  doubles  the  value.  I  presume  that 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  per  day  inquire  particularly  for 
The  Balance,  and  we  are  obliged  to  turn  them  off  with  some- 


LABORS  IN  PROME  AND  RANGOON.      387 

thing  very  inadequate  to  their  exigency.  Is  not  this  most 
awful  ?  Only  contrast  the  countenance  of  one  who  has  No. 
8  forced  upon  him  instead  of  The  Balance,  and  goes  away 
feeling  very  '  gritty,'  with  the  countenance  of  another,  who 
seizes  upon  the  desired  article,  gloats  upon  the  interesting 
Bennett  cut,  and  goes  away  almost  screaming  and  jumping 
for  joy. 

"  I  see,  on  reperusing  your  letter,  that  you  speak  of  a  second 
edition  of  The  Septenary.  I  have  no  objection,  provided  it 
does  not  deprive  us  again  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  I  hope, 
however,  you  will  not  abandon  the  study  of  the  language. 
The  proverb  of  the  ■  cat  and  her  skin,'  I  do  not  like.  I 
have  a  much  better  one  from  the  first  authority.  '  My  son,' 
said  the  head  jailer  of  the  death  prison  at  Ava  to  an  under 
jailer,  who  was  complaining  that  they  could  get  no  more  out 
of  a  poor  fellow  whom  they  had  been  tormenting  for  several 
days,  his  wife  and  house  being  completely  stripped  —  ?  my 
son,'  said  the  venerable  old  man,  '  be  sure  you  have  never 
wrung  a  rag  so  dry  but  that  another  twist  will  bring  another 
drop.'  .  .  .  Love  to  Mrs.  Bennett  and  family. 
"  Yours, 

"A.  Judson." 

"  To  Mr.  Bennett. 

"  Rangoon,  March  3, 1831. 
"  Dear  Brother  Bennett  :  I  am  in  great  distress.  The 
View  has  been  out  several  days.  It  failed  us  in  the  midst  of 
the  festival.  Why  some  were  not  ready  to  be  sent  by  The 
Hebe,  when  the  arrival  would  have  been  so  opportune,  I 
cannot  conceive.  We  had  been  on  a  short  allowance  of  one 
hundred  per  day  for  several  days,  and  were  nearly  exhaust- 
ed, when,  on  the  morning  of  the  22d,  the  splendid  consign- 
ment of  Moung  San-lone  arrived.  On  that  day,  Tuesday, 
we  gave  away  three  hundred ;  on  Wednesday,  eight  hun- 
dred ;  on  Thursday,  nine  hundred ;  on  Friday,  the  full  moon, 


388  m  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

seven  hundred ;  on  Saturday,  eleven  hundred ;  on  Sunday, 
eight  hundred;  on  Monday,  five  hundred.  On  Tuesday, 
the  immense  crowd  of  boats  began  to  move  off.  Moung 
San-lone,  second,  had  been  petitioning  for  two  thousand,  with 
which  to  proceed  a  few  miles  up  the  river,  and  supply  the 
departing  boats.  I  could  not  listen  to  him,  when,  at  the  crit- 
ical moment,  The  Hebe  hove  in  sight,  with  your  second  con- 
signment, and  I  sent  off  a  couple  of  disciples  with  twelve 
hundred,  but  no  View.  On  the  same  day  we  gave  away,  at 
the  house,  six  hundred ;  on  Wednesday,  seven  hundred  ;  on 
Thursday,  to-day,  five  hundred.  I  have  been  trying  for  two 
days  to  reduce  the  allowance,  but  in  vain.  And  even  if  I 
could  reduce  it  to  two  hundred,  which  is  the  utmost  I  hope 
for,  how  many  days  should  I  hold  out  ?  I  have  no  Views, 
only  six  hundred  of  The  Balance,  ditto  Catechism,  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  of  The  Investigator,  a  few  Septenaries 
and  Scripture  Extracts.  That  is  all ;  for  we  do  not  consider 
The  Epitome  a  suitable  thing  to  give  away  promiscuously  to 
people  who  have  never  Jjeard  a  word  of  the  gospel.  Now 
you  see,  do  you  not,  that  I  am  in  distress  ?  In  a  very  few 
days,  unless  we  have  a  fresh  supply,  we  shall  have  to  shut  up 
the  house,  and  send  away  the  hungry  souls,  without  giving 
the  crumb  of  a  Catechism.  It  is  true  that  we  have  had  a 
glorious  festival ;  but  when  a  famishing  man  sees  pale  hunger 
advancing  with  rapid  strides,  it  affords  him  no  relief  to  re- 
flect that  he  feasted  sumptuously  a  week  ago.  We  have  had  a 
glorious  festival,  for  which  I  feel  under  infinite  obligation  to 
you ;  and  as  you  have  begun  to  run  well,  I  hope  nothing 
will  hinder  you  from  prosecuting  the  race.  I  have  the  great- 
est hope  that  in  a  very  few  days  a  supply  will  arrive.  As  to 
The  Investigator,  I  begin  to  hesitate  about  giving  it  promis- 
cuously. It  is  an  excellent  work,  but  appears  to  be  rather 
too  straightforward  for  the  present  state  of  Burmah.  It  gives 
more  offence  than  The  Balance.     The  latter  work,  being 


LABORS  IN  PROME  AND  RANGOON.     S89 

cast  in  a  hypothetical  shape,  is  less  offensive.  I  think  of 
proposing  a  large  edition  of  The  Balance,  say  twenty  thou- 
sand.   .     .    .  Yours  affectionately, 

"A.  Judson." 

"  Rangoon,  March  16, 1831. 
"  Dear  Brother  Bennett  :  Your  last  box  of 4  pills '  has 
quite  relieved  my  distress,  and  I  perceive  as  yet  no  symptom 
of  a  return,  the  thermometer  being  down  to  one  hundred,  in 
consequence  of  a  persevering  application  of  refrigerants. 
Pretty  work  for  a  missionary  '  Next  box  of  pills  you  send, 
please  inclose  one  compounded  of  five  hundred  Catechisms." 

"  March  30. 
"  Your  splendid  consignment  came  to  hand  this  morning. 
I  feel  as  rich  as  Croesus.  But  I  am  sorry  to  say  (perhaps 
you  will  be  glad)  that,  for  some  reason  or  other,  the  tide  seems 
to  be  turning.  There  are  now  comparatively  few  applica- 
tions for  tracts,  and  I  shall  not  need  any  other  supplies  just 
at  present.  Never,  however,  hesitate  to  send  a  few,  at  least, 
when  a  good  opportunity  offers,  especially  by  native  boats,  if 
it  is  only  to  encourage  the  trade.  Little  San-lone  went  off 
with  five  hundred  a  few  days  ago,  to  be  present  at  the  annual 
festival  of  Shway  Mandan,  in  old  Pegu,  which  took  place  the 
21st  instant.  If  the  present  consignment  had  then  arrived, 
he  would  have  taken  two  thousand  or  more".  I  expect  him 
back  every  day.  Pastor  Thah-a  and  Shway-too  start  to-mor- 
row morning  with  a  few  hundred  for  the  villages  of  Kam- 
bai,  &c." 

"With  this  spectacle  of  spiritual  famine  before  his 
eyes,  he  felt,  with  inconceivable  pain  and  bitterness,, 
the  comparative  coldness  and  inaction  of  Christians  at 


390  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

home.  The  fields  were  whitening  for  the  harvest,  but 
there  were  none  to  reap.  Writing  to  the  correspond- 
ing secretary,  under  date  of  March  4, 1831,  he  says  :  — 

"  Priests  and  people,  from  the  remotest  regions,  are  alike 
eager  to  get  our  writings.  I  should  have  given  away  double 
the  number,  if  I  could  have  obtained  sufficient  supplies.  But 
poor  brother  Bennett  cannot,  single  handed,  with  bad  type, 
and  not  yet  familiar  with  Burmese  printing,  answer  all  the 
demands  which  we  make  upon  him,  from  different  quarters. 
May  God  forgive  all  those  who  desert  us  in  our  extremity. 
May  he  save  them  all.  But  surely,  if  any  sin  will  lie  with 
crushing  weight  on  the  trembling,  shrinking  soul,  when  grim 
death  draws  near,  if  any  sin  will  clothe  the  face  of  the  final 
Judge  with  an  angry  frown,  withering  up  the  last  hope  of 
the  condemned,  in  irremediable,  everlasting  despair,  it  is  the 
sin  of  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the  plaintive  cry  of  ten  millions 
of  immortal  beings,  who,  by  their  darkness  and  misery,  cry, 
day  and  night,  '  Come  to  our  rescue,  ye  bright  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  America,  come  and  save  us,  for  we  are  sinking 

INTO  HELL.'" 

"  Brother  Bennett  works  day  and  night  at  the  press ;  but 
he  is  unable  to  supply  us  ;  for  the  call  is  great  at  Maulmain 
and  Tavoy,  as  well  as  here,  and  his  types  are  very  poor,  and 
he  has  no  efficient  help.  The  fact  is,  that  we  are  very  weak, 
and  have  to  complain  that  hitherto  we  have  not  been  well 
supported  from  home.  It  is  most  distressing  to  find,  when 
we  are  almost  worn  out,  and  are  sinking,  one  after  another, 
into  the  grave,  that  many  of  our  brethren  in  Christ  at  home 
are  just  as  hard  and  immovable  as  rocks ;  just  as  cold  and 
repulsive  as  the  mountains  of  ice  in  the  polar  seas.  But 
whatever  they  do,  we  cannot  sit  still,  and  see  the  dear  Bur- 
mans,  flesh  and  blood  like  ourselves,  and  like  ourselves  pos- 
sessed of  immortal  souls,  that  will  shine  forever  in  heaven,  or 


LABORS  IN  PROME  AND  RANGOON.      391 

burn  forever  in  hell  —  we  cannot  see  them  go  down  to  per- 
dition without  doing  our  very  utmost  to  save  them.  And 
thanks  be  to  God,  our  labors  are  not  in  vain.  We  have 
three  lovely  churches,  and  about  two  hundred  baptized  con- 
verts, and  some  are  in  glory.  A  spirit  of  religious  inquiry 
is  extensively  spreading  throughout  the  country,  and  the 
signs  of  the  times  indicate  that  the  great  renovation  of  Bur- 
mah  is  drawing  near.  O,  if  we  had  about  twenty  more 
versed  in  the  language,  and  means  to  spread  schools,  and 
tracts,  and  Bibles,  to  any  extent,  how  happy  I  should  be ! 
But  those  rocks  and  those  icy  mountains  have  crushed  us 
down  for  many  years."  N 

The  number  of  effective  missionaries  had  been  so 
reduced  by  sickness,  that  in  May  of  this  year,  he  was 
the  only  one  left  who  could  preach  the  gospel  in  Bur- 
mese. Mrs.  Wade  being  obliged,  as  the  only  chance 
for  her  life,  to  leave  for  America,  Mr.  Wade,  who  was 
also  in  feeble  health,  was  urged  by  all  the  missionaries 
on  the  ground  to  accompany  her.  On  hearing  this  sad 
Dews,  he  writes,  after  expressing  his  cordial  appro- 
bation of  the  step :  — 

"  I  have  also  written  to  the  brethren  to  know  what  I  shall 
do  with  myself  in  the  mean  time.  I  know  not  whether  they 
can  keep  the  press  moving  without  me.  And  though  they 
can,  what  will  become  of  the  native  flock  in  Maulmain? 
What  of  the  Karens  ?  What  of  all  the  people  in  the  ceded 
provinces,  from  Tenasserim  to  the  frontiers  of  China  ?  What 
of  all  the  people  from  Rangoon  to  Ava  ?  I  am  startled  and 
terrified  to  find  that,  by  several  unexpected  moves,  I  am 
left,  as  it  were,  alone  ;  there  being  not  another  foreigner  in 


6\)2  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

all  the  country  that  can  preach  the  gospel  to  the  perishing 
millions." 

The  result  of  the  consultation  above  referred  to,  was, 
the  transfer  of  Mr.  Jones  to  Rangoon ;  on  whose  arri- 
val, Mr.  Judson  returned  to  Maulmain. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

PREACHING  TOURS  IN  THE  JUNGLES. 

"  Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  first  Burmese  mission- 
ary in  Rangoon,  his  attention  was  attracted  by  small 
parties  of  strange  wild-looking  men,  clad  in  unshapely 
garments,  who,  from  time  to  time,  straggled  past  his 
residence.  He  was  told  that  they  were  called  Karens ; 
that  they  were  more  numerous  than  any  similar  tribe  in 
the  vicinity ;  and  as  untamable  as  the  wild  cow  of  the 
mountains.  He  was  further  told  that  they  shrunk  from 
association  with  other  men,  seldom  entering  a  town, 
except  on  compulsion  ;  and  that,  therefore,  any  attempt 
to  bring  them  within  the  sphere  of  his  influence  would 
prove  unsuccessful."  * 

Such  was  the  first  introduction,  to  the  notice  of  west- 
em  Christians,  of  this  interesting  race,  whose  religious 
history  has  been  an  almost  literal  fulfilment  of  the  pre- 
diction, "  a  nation  shall  be  born  in  a  day." 

*  Memoir  of  Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Judson. 


394  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

The  deep  interest  awakened  in  Mr.  Judson's  mind 
by  the  appearance  of  these  forlorn  beings,  communicated 
itself  to  the  Burman  converts  ;  and  led,  during  the  war, 
to  the  redemption,  by  one  of  the  number,  of  a  Karen 
bond-slave  whom  he  had  chanced  to  find  in  Rangoon. 
On  the  establishment  of  the  mission  at  Maulmain,  he 
was  brought  thither  by  his  benefactor,  and  through  the 
instrumentality  of  the  missionaries,  particularly  of  Dr. 
Judson,  became  a  convert  to  Christianity.  His  heart 
immediately  began  to  yearn  over  his  brethren  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh,  and  he  became  an  active  and  successful 
evangelist  among  them.  This  was  Ko-Thah-byu,  a  name 
to  be  remembered  among  those  of  the  higher  nobility 
of  the  redeemed,  who,  having  turned  many  to  right- 
eousness, shall  shine  as  the  stars,  forever.*  Through 
him,  access  was  gained  to  his  wild  countrymen. 

The  condition  of  this  people,  brought  to  light  by  the 
benevolent  inquiries  of  our  missionaries,  is  among  the 
most  interesting  of  ethnological  problems. 

Entirely  dissimilar  to  the  Burmans  in  physical  traits 
and  in  character,  and  with  little,  in  these  respects,  in 
common  with  any  of  the  tribes  within  the  empire,  no 
clue  to  their  origin  has  yet  been  obtained.  Their  own 
traditions  point  to  no  earlier  residence,  from  which  their 
ancestors  emigrated  into  the  Burmese  mountains.    One 

*  See  Mr.  Wade's  account  of  his  life. 


PREACHING  TOURS  IN  THE  JUNGLES.    395 

could  almost  fancy  they  had  sprung  up  spontaneously, 
in  the  tangled  jungles  and  wild  mountain  fastnesses, 
where,  for  ages,  they  have  had  their  home.  They  are 
a  mild,  docile,  peaceful  race,  yet  cherishing  an  uncon- 
querable love  of  liberty.  Treated  with  extreme  cruelty 
and  ignominy  by  the  Burmans  wherever  they  came 
into  contact,  robbed,  kidnapped  as  slaves,  and  subject 
to  merciless  exactions  from  government,  the  only  refuge 
of  this  simple  and  timid  people,  was  to  scatter  as  widely 
as  possible,  so  that  more  than  two  or  three  families  were 
seldom  found  together.  In  these  little  groups,  they 
were  scattered  over  several  distinct  districts  of  Burmah, 
in  the  Tenasserim  provinces,  in  the  region  south  of  Ar- 
racan,  and  in  a  wild  region  southeast  of  Ava,  to  the 
number  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  thou- 
sand. This  mode  of  life  precluded  social  progress. 
At  the  time  they  were  discovered  by  the  missionaries, 
they  were  in  the  lowest  possible  condition  in  this  re- 
spect ;  their  knowledge  of  the  useful  arts  being  no  more 
than  would  suflice  for  the  construction  of  a  rude  canoe, 
the  weaving  of  baskets,  and  the  preparation  of  a  coarse 
cotton  cloth  for  their  scanty  covering.  Agriculture  was 
unknown  among  them.  They  subsisted  upon  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  mountain  streams,  and  the  spontaneous  fruits 
of  the  wilderness,  migrating  from  place  to  place,  as  the 
natural  provision  around  them  was  exhausted.     Under 


396  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

such  circumstances,  it  would  be  folly  to  expect  an  elevat- 
ed moral  condition.  Though  affectionate;  confiding,  and 
wonderfully  truthful,  presenting  in  these  points,  partic- 
ularly in  the  latter,  an  honorable  contrast  to  their 
haughty  Burman  masters,  they  were,  like  all  savages, 
indolent,  filthy,  intemperate,  and  excessively  supersti- 
tious. In  short,  they  presented  the  aspect  of  a  people 
of  excellent  natural  dispositions,  but  crushed  and  dis- 
pirited by  the  oppression  of  a  more  powerful  and  intel- 
ligent race,  below  the  expectation,  and  almost  below  the 
wish  for  improvement. 

Yet,  in  the  bosom  of  this  outcast  people  was  cherished 
one  idea,  one  hope,  nobler  than  had  ever  dawned  on 
the  mind  of  the  proud  and  sagacious  Burman.  Amidst 
the  mad  idolatry  of  India,  and  in  the  very  lap  of  the 
gorgeous  system  of  Buddhism,  the  Karens  alone  were 
found  to  be  free  from  image-worship.  They  had  in- 
deed no  religious  rites,  if  we  except  their  propitiatory 
offerings  in  danger  and  sickness  to  the  Nats,  a  sort  of 
petty  mischievous  agents  not  unlike  the  elves  of  north- 
ern Europe.  But  in  their  traditionary  songs  and  le- 
gends had  been  handed  down  from  one  generation  to 
another,  the  idea  of  one  God,  the  invisible,  supreme 
Euler  of  the  world,  and  the  prediction  that  at  some 
future  day,  white  foreigners  from  across  the  ocean 
would  come  to  instruct  them  in  his  worship.     One  of 


PREACHING  TOURS  IN  THE  JUNGLES.    397 

these  legends  was  found  to  be  an  account  of  the  crea- 
tion and  fall  of  man,  similar  to  that  given  in  Genesis. 
Some  of  their  moral  precepts  also  bore  a  striking  resem- 
blance to  those  of  Scripture?  The  date  of  the  traditions, 
and  their  primary  source,  were  lost  in  the  same  obscurity 
as  the  origin  of  the  people  themselves. 

Thus  prepared,  these  rude,  untutored  savages  received 
the  Christian  missionary  in  a  manner  far  different  from 
that  experienced  among  the  Burmans.  They  welcomed 
him  and  his  "  glad  tidings,"  as  the  fulfilment  of  that  Mes- 
sianic hope,  —  so  we  mi^ht  almost  call  it,  —  for  which 
they  long  had  waited ;  and  receiving  the  seed  of  the 
kingdom  into  good  and  honest  hearts,  brought  forth 
fruit  an  hundred  fold.  Never,  probably,  among  any 
race  of  men,  has  the  gospel  won  such  rapid  triumphs, 
or  so  signally  demonstrated  its  power  to  improve  even 
the  temporal  condition.  The  scion  soon  far  outstripped 
in  growth  the  parent- mission.  Within  thirty  years 
after  the  conversion  of  Ko-thah-byu,  behold  these  va- 
grant tribes,  blighted  by  a  deep  sense  of  their  innate 
inferiority  and  their  hopeless  state  of  servitude,  assum- 
ing the  beautiful  lineaments  of  true  Christian  civiliza- 
tion, —  their  language  reduced  to  writing,  and  the  Bible 
translated  into  it,  printing  presses  at  work  to  multiply 
the  means  of  Christian  culture,  Christian  villages  gath- 
ered,  Christian    schools    and    churches,  springing   up 


398  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

all  over  the  Karen  wilderness.  They  have  developed 
an  eagerness,  and  a  capacity  for  acquiring  both  human 
and  Christian  knowledge,  and  a  facility  in  adopting  the 
habits  of  civilized  life,  whiclf  is  truly  marvellous  ;  while 
in  the  simplicity,  consistency,  and  fervor  of  their  piety, 
they  present  a  most  lovely  form  of  Christian  character, 
reminding  one  of  the  early  Moravians  of  Germany. 

But  the  details  of  this  wonderful  story  do  not  belong 
here,  except  so  far  as  they  are  connected  with  Dr.  Jud- 
son's  limited  personal  labors  among  the  Karens.  To 
his  beloved  co-laborers  was  granted,  in  a  far  greater 
degree  than  to  himself,  the  joy  of  leading  this  willing 
flock  into  the  true  fold,  and  of  imparting  to  them  the 
blessings  of  Christian  knowledge.  But  it  was  his  great 
delight  to  labor  among  them,  when  he  could  snatch  an 
interval  of  leisure  from  his  other  duties ;  and  if  he  ever 
envied  his  brethren  any  privilege,  I  believe  it  was  that 
of  preaching  Christ  to  the  Karens. 

It  was  found  extremely  difficult,  at  first,  to  persuade 
even  the  Christian  Karens  to  abandon  their  scattered 
and  unsettled  mode  of  life.  The  habit,  first  induced 
probably  by  the  instinct  of  self-preservation,  had  become 
a  second  nature.  But  the  missionaries  hoped  to  do 
little  of 'permanent  value  for  them,  until  they  could  be 
congregated  into  villages,  where  not  only  their  religious 
instruction  could  be  steadily  and  systematically  prose- 


PREACHING  TOURS  IN  THE  JUNGLES.    399 

cuted,  but  schools  could  be  maintained,  and  families 
could  be  trained  into  the  habits  of  decency,  cleanliness, 
and  industry  befitting  a  Christian  community.  It  was 
partly  in  furtherance  of  this  object,  that  Dr.  Judson,  at 
several  different  times,  made  excursions  into  the  Karen 
jungles.  His  journals  of  these  tours,  are  among  the 
most  interesting  illustrations  of  his  genuine  missionary 
spirit.  While  following  him  from  hamlet  to  hamlet,  as 
he  passed  up  and  down  the  mountain  streams  and 
through  the  thickets,  proclaiming  the  gospel  to  the  sim- 
ple dwellers  of  the  wilderness  with  such  heartfelt  joy, 
and  unable  to  forbear  weeping  when  obliged  to  abandon 
the  delightful  work  for  the  prosecution  of  his  transla- 
tion, we  see  how  deeply  he  had  drunk  into  his  Master's 
love  for  souls,  and  how  great  was  the  sacrifice  he  made 
to  duty,  in  devoting  so  much  of  his  life  to  the  solitary 
labors  of  the  study. 

The  incidents  of  the  second  and  third  of  these  ex- 
cursions, which  occupied  nearly  the  whole  of  the  months 
of  January,  February,  and  March,  of  1832,  are  given 
as  follows,  in  his  Journal :  — 

"  Wadesville,  January  1,  1832. 
"  We  set  out  from  Maulmain,  as  purposed  in  my  last,  and 
leaving  the  Sal  wen  on  the  west,  and  the  Ataran  on  the  east, 
we  followed  the  Gyne  and  the  Dah-gyne,  as  it  is  termed 
■bovfl  its  confluence  with  the  Houng-ta-rau,  which  falls  in 
from  the  east,  and  in  three  days  reached  this  place,  the  dis- 


400  THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

tance  being,  b}r  conjecture,  above  eighty  miles.  Accounts, 
on  first  arriving,  are  rather  unfavorable.  . 

"  January  8.  My  people  have  been  out  for  several  days,  in 
different  directions.  One  party  has  ascended  the  river  to 
Kau-nau's  village,  beyond  which  boats  do  not  pass.  Others 
have  been  to  Lausan's  village,  southeast  of  this,  on  the  Pan- 
ka-rong  rivulet ;  others  have  proceeded  further  in  the  same 
direction,  to  the  head  of  the  Patah  River,  which  also  falls 
into  the  Dah-gyne.  There  are  twenty-seven  baptized  disci- 
ples in  these  parts,  who  were  nearly  all  present  to-day.  at 
worship,  and  I  am  happy  to  find  that  they  have  all  behaved 
well  since  my  last  visit,  though  they  have  been  obliged  to 
encounter  a  great  deal  of  reproach  and  opposition  from  their 
unbelieving  countrymen.  But  a  number  of  circumstances, 
too  tedious  to  detail,  have  conspired  to  damp  the  spirit  of 
religious  inquiry,  which  appeared  a  few  months  ago ;  and 
though,  at  one  time,  there  were  reported  to  be  a  considera- 
ble number  who  were  ready  to  embrace  the  Christian  religion, 
and  though  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  many  of  them  will  prove  to 
be  sincere,  there  seems  to  be  a  simultaneous  understanding 
among  them  to  consider  longer,  before  finally  committing 
themselves.  I  have  not,  therefore,  had  the  happiness  of 
adding  a  single  individual  to  the  branch  of  the  church  in  this 
quarter. 

"  January  9.  The  disciples  at  this  place  being  desirous  of 
changing  their  residence,  and  uniting  with  other  disciples 
from  different  parts  in  forming  a  new  settlement,  we  went 
down  the  river  a  short  distance,  and  on  the  western  bank, 
just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Pan-ka-rong  rivulet,  found  a 
spot  which,  uniting  the  suffrages  of  all  parties,  we  commended 
to  God,  praying  him  to  come  and  make  it  his  abode,  and 
bless  the  inhabitants  with  all  temporal  and  spiritual  blessings, 
and  cause  it  to  be  a  spring  whence  living  waters  should  flow 
into  all  the  adjacent  parts.     Having  performed  this  service, 


PREACHING  TOURS  IN  THE  JUNGLES.    401 

and  taken  leave  of  the  disciples,  we  proceeded  down  the 
river. 

"  January  10.  We  arrived  early  at  the  mouth  of  the  Leing- 
bwai,  which  falls  into  the  Dah-gyne  from  the  northwest, 
and  bent  our  course  thitherward.  At  night,  reached  Ken- 
doot,  where  they  have  repeatedly  rejected  the  gospel. 

"January  11.  Continued  to  work  our  way  up  the  river, 
frequently  impeded  by  the  trees  which  had  fallen  across  the 
water,  and  through  which  we  were  obliged  to  cut  a  passage 
for  the  boat.  At  night,  came  to  a  small  cluster  of  houses, 
where  we  found  an  elderly  woman,  who,  with  her  daughter, 
formerly  applied  for  baptism,  but  was  advised  to  wait.  She 
now  received  us  joyfully,  and  united  with  her  daughter  and 
son-in-law  in  begging  earnestly  that  their  baptism  might  be 
no  longer  delayed.  J  directed  them  to  meet  me  at  K wan-bee, 
about  a  mile  distant,  where  I  formerly  baptized  nine  disciples, 
most  of  them  from  Tee-pah's  village,  a  few  miles  to  the  west. 

"January  12.  Proceeded  to  K wan-bee.  A  few  people 
came  together  on  the  beach  to  stare  at  us,  and  we  had  a  little 
meeting  for  worship  before  breakfast.  We  then  proceeded 
to  investigate  the  case  of  Loo-boo,  who  was  reported  to  have 
joined,  when  his  child  was  extremely  ill,  in  making  an  offer- 
ing to  a  nat  (demon)  for  its  recovery.  We  at  first  thought 
of  suspending  him  from  the  fellowship  of  the  church  ;  but  he 
made  such  acknowledgments  and  promises  that  we  finally 
forgave  him,  and  united  in  praying  that  God  would  forgive 
him.  We  do  not  hear  of  any  other  case  of  transgression ;  but 
on  the  contrary,  in  two  instances  of  extreme  illness,  the  dis- 
ciples resisted  all  the  importunities  of  their  friends  to  join  in 
the  usual  offerings  to  propitiate  the  demons,  who  are  sup- 
posed to  rule  over  diseases.  In  one  instance,  the  illness  ter- 
minated in  death ;  and  I  have  to  lament  the  loss  of  Pan- 
mlai-mlo,  who  was  the  leader  of  the  little  church  in  this 
quarter,  and  the  first  of  these  northern  Karens,  who,  we 
26 


402  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

hope,  has  arrived  safe  in  heaven.  I  ought,  perhaps,  to 
except  the  case  of  a  man  and  wife  near  the  head  of  the 
Patau  River,  who,  though  not  baptized,  and  never  seen  by 
any  foreign  missionary,  both  died  in  the  faith ;  the  man 
enjoining  it  on  his  surviving  friends  to  have  the  View  of 
the  Christian  Religion  laid  on  his  breast  and  buried  with 
him. 

"  Some  of  the  disciples  have  gone  to  Tee-pah's  village  to 
announce  my  arrival;  and  while  others  are  putting  up  a 
small  shed  on  the  bank,  I  sit  in  the  boat  and  pen  these 
notices. 

"  In  the  evening,  held  a  meeting  in  the  shed,  at  which  sev- 
eral of  the  villagers  were  present. 

"  January  1 3.  My  people  returned  from  Tee-pah's  village, 
bringing  with  them  several  disciples  and  one  woman,  the 
wife  of  Loo-boo,  who  presented  herself  for  baptism,  with 
twelve  strings  of  all  manner  of  beads  around  her  neck,  and 
a  due  proportion  of  ear,  arm,  and  leg  ornaments  !  and,  strange 
to  say,  she  was  examined  and  approved,  without  one  remark 
on  the  subject  of  her  dress.  The  truth  is,  we  quite  forgot  it, 
being  occupied  and  delighted  with  her  uncommonly  prompt 
and  intelligent  replies.  In  the  afternoon  sent  the  boat  back 
to  Maulmain,  with  directions  to  proceed  up  the  Salwen,  hav- 
ing concluded  to  cross  thither  by  land.  In  the  evening,  had 
a  pretty  full  shed ;  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  place  do  not 
appear  very  favorably  inclined. 

"January  14.  The  three  persons  mentioned  on  the  11th 
presented  themselves,  with  the  decorated  lady  of  yesterday. 
Being  formerly  prevented  by  illness  from  animadverting  on 
female  dress  in  this  district,  as  I  did  in  the  Dah-gyne,  I  took 
an  opportunity  of  '  holding  forth '  on  that  subject  before 
breakfast ;  and  it  was  truly  amusing  and  gratifying  to  see  the 
said  lady,  and  another  applicant  for  baptism,  and  a  Christian 
woman  who  accompanied  them,  divest  themselves,  on  the  spot, 


PREACHING  TOURS  IN  THE  JUNGLES.     403 

of  every  article  that  could  be  deemed  merely  ornamental ; 
and  this  they  did  with  evident  pleasure,  and  good  resolution 
to  persevere  in  adherence  to  the  plain  dress  system.  .  We 
then  held  a  church  meeting,  and  having  baptized  the  four 
applicants,  crossed  the  Leing-bwai  on  a  bridge  of  logs,  and 
set  out  for  Tee-pah's  village,  accompanied  by  a  long  train  of 
omen,  children,  and  dogs.  Towards  night  we  arrived 
at  that  place,  and  effected  a  lodgment  in  Tee-pah's  house. 
In  the  evening,  had  a  pretty  full  assembly. 

*■  January  15,  Lord's  day.  Iu  the  foreuoon  I  held  a  meet- 
ing for  the  disciples  only,  and,  as  I  seldom  see  them,  endeav- 
ored to  tell  them  all  I  knew.  Had  more  or  less  company 
through  the  day.  In  the  evening  a  crowded  house.  Tee- 
pah's  lather,  a  venerable  old  man,  came  forward,  and  wife 
I  a  good  confession.  Some  others,  also,  begin  to  give 
evidence  that  they  have  received  the  truth  into  good  and 
honest  hearts. 

u  January  16.  In  the  morning  Tee-pah's  mother  joined  the 
party  of  applicants  for  baptism,  and  her  younger  daughter- 
in-law,  whose  husband  was  formerly  baptized.  But  Tee-pah 
:.  though  convinced  of  the  truth,  and  giving  some  evi- 
of  grace,  cannot  resolve  at  once  on  entire  abstinence 
from  ruin,  though  he  has  never  been  in  the  habit  of  intoxica- 
tion. In  the  course  of  the  forenoon,  we  held  a  church  meet- 
ing, and  unanimously  received  and  baptized  eight  individuals 
from  this  and  a  small  village  two  miles  distant. 

"  Took  an  affectionate  leave  of  the  people,  and  prosecuted 
our  journey  towards  the  Salwen.  Came  to  Zat-kyee's  small 
Village,  where  one  man  and  his  wife  embraced  the  truth 
at  &TB<  hearing ;  and  the  man  said,  that  as  there  was  no  suit- 
able place  for  baptizing  at  that  village,  he  would  follow  on, 
until  he  could  say,  '  See,  here  is  water,'  &c.  I  gave  him 
leave  to  follow,  not  with  that  view,  but  to  listen  further  to 
the  blessed  gospel.     At  night,  reached  JShway-bau's  village, 


404  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

ft 

where  they  afforded  us  a  shelter  rather  reluctantly.  In  the 
evening,  however,  had  an  interesting,  though  small  assem- 
bly. 

"  January  1 7.  Pursued  our  way,  and  soon  came  in  sight  of 
the  Salwen,  the  boundary  between  the  British  and  Burmese 
territories.  Arrived  at  Poo-ah's  small  village,  consisting  of 
three  houses,  not  one  of  which  had  a  leaf  of  covering.  No 
one  welcomed  our  arrival ;  so  we  sat  down  on  the  ground. 
Presently  the  preaching  of  one  of  the  Karen  disciples  so 
wrought  upon  one  of  the  householders,  a  Burman  with  a 
Karen  wife,  that  he  invited  me  to  sit  on  his  floor;  and  my 
people  spread  a  mat  overhead,  which,  with  my  umbrella, 
made  me  quite  at  home.  The  householder,  in  the  interval 
of  his  work,  and  one  of  the  neighbors,  began  to  listen,  and 
were  present  at  evening  worship. 

"January  18.  Shway-hlah,  the  man  who  followed  us  from 
the  village  day  before  yesterday,  appearing  to  be  sincere  in 
his  desire  to  profess  the 'Christian  religion,  we  held  a  meeting, 
though  four  disciples  only  could  be  present ;  and  on  balloting 
for  his  reception,  there  was  one  dissentient  vote,  so  that  I 
advised  him  to  wait  longer.  He  appeared  to  be  much  disap- 
pointed and  grieved ;  said  that  he  should  perhaps  not  live  to 
see  me  again,  and  have  an  opportunity  of  being  initiated  into 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  after  a  while  the  two  Karen 
disciples  insisting  that  he  should  be  reexamined,  we  gave  him 
a  second  trial,  when,  on  cross-questioning  him  in  the  Burman 
language,  which  he  understood  pretty  well,  (for  we  began  to 
suspect  the  Karen  interpreters  of  being  a  little  partial  to  their 
countryman,)  some  circumstances  leaked  out  which  turned 
the  scale  in  his  favor,  and  he  gained  a  clear  vote.  After  his 
baptism,  he  went  on  his  way  rejoicing,  resolving  to  tell  ail 
his  neighbors  what  '  great  things  the  Lord  had  done  for  him.' 
At  morning  worship,  our  host  and  the  neighbor  mentioned 
above,  appeared  to  be  very  near  the  kingdom  of  heaven,' 


PREACHING  TOURS  IN  THE  JUNGLES.    405 

but  the  other  people  of  this  village  decidedly  reject  the 
gospel. 

"January  19.  The  boat  having  last  night  arrived  from 
Mauhnain,  we  prepared  to  proceed  up  the  river.  The  two 
hopeful  inquirers  requested  us  to  make  them  another  visit  on 
our  return.  Resolve  to  do  so ;  and  hope  to  find  that  the  seed 
now  sown  in  this  and  the  neighboring  villages  will  have 
sprung  up  and  be  ripe  for  harvest 

11  Passed  Panchoos's  village,  where  we  spent  an  hour,  and 
Nga-koung's,  too  far  inland  to  visit. 

-January  20.  Passed  the  head  of  Kanlong  Island,  and 
breakfasted  near  Yetdau's  village,  where  we  found  two  or 
three  inquirers.  One  woman  followed  to  the  boat,  and  lis- 
tened attentively.  Passed  Kan-karet  Island,  beyond  which 
the  Yoon-zalen  empties  into  the  Salwen  from  the  west,  and 
about  noon  reached  Tat-sau's  small  village.  One  man,  who 
had  heard  the  gospel  before,  appeared  very  favorably  im- 
pressed. Crossed  the  river  to  Lee-hai's  village  on  the  Bur- 
man  side.  In  the  evening,  had  a  considerable  assembly  at 
his  house,  lie  and  his  son-in-law,  their  wives  and  one  or 
two  others,  appeared  open  to  conviction. 

M  January  21 .  llecrossed  the  river  to  take  in  Ko-Myat-kyau 
and  Chet-thiug,  whom  I  had  sent  away  from  Kwan-bee,  with 
directions  to  make  a  circuit  to  the  north,  and  meet  me  at  this 
place.  They  have  proclaimed  the  gospel  in  many  places 
where  it  was  never  heard  before,  and  met  with  some  in- 
stances of  hopeful  inquiry.  We  then  proceeded  up  the 
Salwen,  and  in  passing  the  mouth  of  the  Yen-being,  whieh 
falls  in  from  the  east,  I  sent  Moung  Zu-thee  and  Tau-nah  to 
make  another  circuit,  and  meet  me  at  Poo-ah's  village  ten 
days  hence.  At  night,  sent  the  two  remaining  Karen  disci- 
ples to  a  small  village  a  few  miles  inland. 

"January  22.  On  their  return  we  again  set  out,  and  at 
three  o'clock  reached  the  landing-place  called  Toung  Pyouk, 


406  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

where  trading  boats  from  Maulmain  are  obliged  to  stop,  on 
account  of  the  rapids  in  the  river.  No  village  near,  and  only- 
two  boats.  A  most  dreary  place.  Nothing  but  rocks  and 
sand  hills.  Sent  two  of  my  people  forward  by  land,  intend- 
ing to  follow  them  to-morrow. 

"  January  23.  Followed  the  track  of  my  people,  and  after 
travelling  five  hours,  came  to  Chanbau's  village,  in  the  midst 
of  the  mountains.  In  the  evening,  had  a  pretty  large,  but 
not  very  attentive  assembly.  Two  or  three  received  the 
word  with  apparent  joy,  and  none  manifested  decided  oppo- 
sition. 

to  January  24.  Set  out  for  Bau-nah's  village,  two  days' jour- 
ney ;  but  after  travelling  an  hour  over  dreadful  mountains 
and  in  the  bed  of  a  rivulet,  where  the  water  was  sometimes 
knee  deep,  and  full  of  sharp,  slippery  rocks,  when  my  bare 
feet,  unaccustomed  to  such  usage,  soon  became  so  sore  that  I 
could  hardly  step ;  and  having  ascertained  that  such  was  the 
only  road  for  many  miles,  I  felt  that  I  had  done  all  that  lay 
in  my  power  towards  carrying  the  gospel  further  in  this  di- 
rection, and  therefore  relinquished  the  attempt,  and  reluc- 
tantly returned  to  Clfanbau's  village.  Not  so  many  present 
at  evening  worship  as  yesterday.  The  seed  sown  here  ap- 
pears, in  some  instances,  to  have  fallen  on  good  ground ;  but 
our  short  stay  deprives  us  of  the  pleasure  of  seeing  fruit 
brought  to  perfection. 

"  January  25.  Returned  to  the  boat,  which  we  reached  in 
two  and  a  half  hours,  by  a  more  direct  route,  and  proceeded 
down  the  river.  Soon  came  to  a  landing-place,  where,  ob- 
serving a  few  boats,  we  stopped,  with  a  view  to  communicate 
the  gospel  to  the  boat  people.  The  two  Karen  disciples  went 
to  a  village  about  a  mile  inland.  In  the  evening,  had  a  con- 
siderable assembly  on  the  sand  bank. 

"  January  26.  Some  of  the  villagers  came  to  the  boat,  and 
after  listening  a  while,  invited  me  to  return  with  them.    I 


PREACHING  TOURS  IN  THE  JUNGLES.    407 

found  three  houses  only,  but  the  inhabitants  listened  with  the 
best  attention. 

"January  27.  This  little  village  may  be  said  to  have  em- 
braced the  gospel.  At  one  time  we  had  eight  applicants  for 
baptism  ;  but  two  only  were  finally  received,  Ko  Shway  and 
his  wife  Nah  Nyah-ban.  They  both  understand  the  Burmese 
language  pretty  well ;  and  the  woman  possesses  the  best  in- 
tellect, as  well  as  the  strongest  faith,  that  I  have  found  among 
this  people.  I  invited  them,  though  rather  advanced  in  life, 
to  come  to  Mauhnain,  and  learn  to  read,  promising  to  sup- 
port them  a  few  months ;  and  they  concluded  to  accept  the 
invitation  next  rainy  season.  They  followed  us  all  the  way 
to  the  boat,  and  the  woman  stood  looking  after  us  until  we 
were  out  of  sight. 

'*  In  the  afternoon,  arrived  again  at  the  Yen-being  River, 
and  sent  some  of  my  people  to  a  neighboring  village  two 
miles  distant.  The  villagers  listened  a  while,  and  then  sent  a 
respectful  message,  sayirfg  that  they  believed  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ,  that  it  was  most  excellent,  &c,  but  begged  that 
the  teacher  would  go  about  his  business,  and  not  come  to 
disturb  them. 

"  January  28.  Proceeded  down  the  Salwen,  touching  at 
several  villages,  and  on  reaching  Yet-dau's,  found  sufficient 
encouragement  to  spend  the  night. 

"January  29.  Four  persons,  two  men  and  their  wives, 
having  heard  the  gospel  before,  and  being  now  quite  settled 
in  their  minds,  and  giving  good  evidence  of  having  the  grace 
of  God,  were  received  into  the  Christian  church  by  baptism. 
Enjoyed  a  very  pleasant  Lord's  day,  having  several  seasons 
of  worship,  in  a  little  shed  pertaining  to  the  village.  Two 
other  persons  request  baptism,  and  their  case  will  be  consid- 
ered to-morrow. 

**  January  30.  In  the  morning,  held  a  church  meeting  by 
the  river  side,  and  received  the  last  two  applicants.     The 


408  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

chief  of  the  village,  Yet-dau's  father,  and  several  other  per- 
sons, arc  very  favorably  impressed.  Not  a  word  of  opposition 
to  be  heard.  Took  an  affectionate  leave  of  this  little  church, 
now  consisting  of  six  members,  and  went  down  the  river  on 
the  west  side  of  Kanlong  Island,  having  come  up  on  the  east 
side  from  Poo-ah's  village.  Entered  the  Mai-zeen  rivulet,  in 
Burmese  territory,  and  landed  at  Thah-pe-nike's  village, 
where  we  spent  the  day.  In  the  evening,  had  a  noisy  assem- 
bly. Some  professed  to  believe,  but  pleaded  the  fear  of  gov- 
ernment as  an  excuse  for  not  prosecuting  their  inquires. 
One  young  man,  Kah-lah  by  name,  drank  in  the  truth,  and 
promised  to  come  to  Maulmain  as  soon  as  he  could  get  free 
from  some  present  engagements. 

"January  31.  Continued  our  course  down  the  river,  and 
landed  on  the  west  side,  at  Ti-yah-ban's  village.  The  chief 
is  said  to  be  very  much  in  favor  of  the  Christian  religion, 
but,  unfortunately,  had  gone  up  the  river,  and  his  people  did 
not  dare  to  think  in  his  absence.  fn  the  afternoon,  came  to 
the  '  upper  village,'  the  first  we  found  on  Kanlong.  They 
listened  well,  but,  about  sunset,  took  a  sudden  turn,  and  would 
give  us  no  further  hearing.  We  removed,  therefore,  to  Yai- 
thah-kau's  village.  Some  of  my  people  went  ashore.  The 
chief  was  absent,  and  the  principal  remaining  personage,  a 
Buddhist  Karen,  said  that  when  the  English  government  en- 
forced their  religion  at  the  point  of  the  sword,  and  he  had 
seen  two  or  three  suffer  death  for  not  embracing  it,  he  would 
begin  to  consider,  and  not  before  ;  that,  however,  if  the  teacher 
desired  to  come  to  the  village,  he  could  not  be  inhospitable, 
but  would  let  him  come.  I  sent  back  word  that  I  would 
not  come ;  but,  as  he  loved  falsehood  and  darkness,  I  would 
leave  him  to  live  therein  all  his  days,  and  finally  go  the  dark 
way ;  and  all  my  people  drew  off  to  the  boat.  While  we 
were  deliberating  what  to  do,  something  touched  the  old  man's 
heart ;  we  heard  the  sound  of  footsteps  advancing  in  the  dark, 


PREACHING    TOURS    IN    THE   JUNGLES.  409 

and  presently  a  voice.  '  My  lord,  please  to  come  to  the  vil- 
lage.' '  Don'i  eall  me  lord.  I  am  no  lord,  nor  ruler  of  this 
world.'  '  What  must  I  call  you  ?  Teacher,  I  suppose.' 
k  Yrs.  but  not  your  teacher,  for  you  love  to  be  taught  false- 
hood, not  truth.'  *  Teacher,  I  have  heard  a  great  deal  against 
this  religion,  and  how  can  I  know  at  once  what  is  right  and 
what  is  wrong  ?  Please  to  come  and  let  me  listen  attentively 
to  your  words.'  I  replied  not,  but  rose  and  followed  the  old 
man.  He  took  me  to  his  house,  spread  a  cloth  for  me  to 
sit  on,  manifested  great  respect,  and  listened  with  uncommon 
attention.  When  I  prepared  to  go,  he  said,  '  But  you  will 
not  go  before  we  have  performed  an  act  of  worship  and 
prayer?'  We  accordingly  knelt  down,  and,  during  prayer, 
the  old  man  could  not  help,  now  and  then,  repeating  the 
close  of  a  sentence  with  emphasis,  seeming  to  imply  that,  in 
his  mind,  I  had  not  quite  done  it  justice.  After4!  was  gone, 
he  said  that  it  was  a  great  thing  to  change  one's  religion; 
that  he  stood  quite  alone  in  these  parts ;  but  that,  if  some 
of  his  acquaintance  would  join  him,  he  would  not  be  behind, 
iirnary  1.  Went  on  to  Pa-dah's  village,  near  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  island,  where  there  is  a  Buddhist 
print,  and  the  people  generally  are  worshippers  of  Gaudama. 
Met  with  a  frigid  reception.  But  one  man,  who  had  heard 
and  received  the  truth  before,  came  forward  boldly,  and  re- 
quested baptism.  He  bore  an  excellent  examination,  and 
we  received  him  gladly.  The  opposition  here  is  strong. 
None  of  the  villagers  present  at  evening  worship,  except  a 
brother  of  the  chief,  and  one  other  man  ;  but  these  spoke 
decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Christian  religion,  as  did  the  old 
man  of  yotcplay,  who  followed  hither  by  land.  The  priest, 
I  hear,  is  very  angry,  and,  unfortunately  for  his  cause,  uses 
abusive  language. 

"  February  2.      Went  round  the  northern  extremity  of 
Kanlong,  and  up  the  eastern  channel,  to  Poo-ah's  village, 


410  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

where  we  found  the  two  disciples  whom  we  sent  away  on  the 
21st  ultimo.  They  have  met  with  a  few  hopeful  inquirers, 
Some  who  live  near  are  expected  here  to-morrow.  In  the 
mean  time,  went  down  the  river  a  few  miles,  to  Poo-door's 
village.  My  people  preceded  me,  as  usual,  and  about  noon 
I  followed  them.  But  I  found  that  the  village  was  inhabited 
chiefly  by  Buddhist  Karens,  and,  of  course,  met  with  a  poor 
reception.  After  showing  myself,  and  trying  to  conciliate 
the  children  and  dogs,  who  cried  and  barked  in  concert,  I  left 
word  that,  if  any  wished  to  hear  me  preach,  I  would  come 
again  in  the  evening,  and  then  relieved  the  people  of  my 
presence,  and  retreated  to  the  boat.  At  night  the  disciples 
returned,  without  any  encouragement.  One  of  them,  how- 
ever, accidentally  met  the  chief,  who  said  that  if  I  came,  he 
would  not  refuse  to  hear  what  I  had  to  say.  On  this  half 
invitation,  I  set  out,  about  sunset,  and  never  met  with  worse 
treatment  at  a  Karen  village.  The  chief  would  not  even 
invite  us  into  his  house,  but  sent  us  off  to  an  old  deserted 
place,  where  the  floor  was  too  frail  to  support  us  ;  so  we  sat 
down  on  the  ground.  He  then  invited  us  nearer,  and  sat 
down  before  us,  with  a  few  confidential  friends.  He  had  evi- 
dently forbidden  all  his  people  to  approach  us,  otherwise 
some  would  have  come,  out  of  curiosity.  And  what  a  hard, 
suspicious  face  did  he  exhibit !  And  how  we  had  to  coax  him 
to  join  us  in  a  little  regular  worship  !  It  was  at  least  an  hour 
before  he  would  consent  at  all.  But  in  the  course  of  worship 
his  features  softened,  and  his  mind  '  crossed  over,'  as  he  ex- 
pressed it,  to  our  religion ;  and  I  returned  to  the  boat  inclined 
to  believe  that  all  things  are  possible  with  God. 

"  February  3.  Some  of  my  people  who  slept  at  the  village 
returned  with  the  report  that  the  place  is  divided  against 
itself.  Some  are  for  and  some  against  us.  The  opposition  is 
rather  violent.  One  man  threatens  to  turn  his  aged  father 
out  of  doors  if  he  embraces  the  Christian  religion.     Perhaps 


PREACHING   TOURS    IN   THE   JUNGLES.  411 

this  is  not  to  be  regretted.  Satan  never  frets  without  cause. 
Turned  the  boat's  head  again  to  the  north,  and  retraced  our 
way  to  Poo-ah's  village,  where  we  spent  the  rest  of  the  day. 
But  the  two  hopeful  inquirers  that  I  left  here  on  the  29th 
have  made  no  advance. 

"  February  4.  Shway-hlah's  wife,  mentioned  the  16th 
ultimo,  having  been  here  three  times  to  meet  me,  was  this 
time  examined  and  received.  She  came  accompanied  by 
Tat-kyee,  the  principal  man  in  her  village,  who  himself  is 
half  a  Christian.  He  had  heard  that  I  wished  to  have  a  zayat 
in  these  parts,  and  invited  me  to  go  up  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Chummerah  rivulet,  now  dry,  where  some  of  his  people  in- 
tend settling,  and  he  would  assist  in  building  the  zayat.  I 
regarded  this  as  an  intimation  of  the  path  of  duty,  and  set 
out  for  the  place,  about  three  miles  distant.  It  was  an  addi- 
tional inducement,  that  Tee-pah's  village  has  been  lately  re- 
moved towards  the  Salwen,  and  is  now  situated  two  miles 
inland  from  the  spot  recommended.  On  our  way  we  met  a 
deputation  from  Tee-pah,  inviting  me  to  fix  on  the  same 
Bpot,  and  his  people  also  would  assist  in  building  the  zayat. 
On  arriving  at  the  place  we  were  joined  by  Tee-pah's  father, 
and  several  other  disciples,  bringing  with  them  a  lad  who  has 
for  some  time  listened  to  the  truth,  and  now  earnestly  re- 
quested to  be  baptized.  We  held  a  church  meeting  on  the 
bank,  twelve  disciples  present  from  different  parts,  and  unan- 
imously received  him.  I  then  marked  out  a  place  for  the 
zayat,  dispatched  Tau-nah  to  bring  his  family  from  the  Dah- 
gyne  district,  and  build  a  house  near  the  zayat,  as  he  is  to 
be  stationed  here,  by  mutual  consent  of  all  parties ;  and  hav- 
ing named  the  new  place  Chummerah,  from  the  adjoining 
rivulet,  we  took  leave  of  the  disciples,  and  again  went  down 
the  river  to  Poo-door's  village,  where  we  arrived  late  at 
night. 

u  February  5.    Went  to  the  village  and  had  worship.   The 


412  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

chief  was  absent  on  some  government  business.  *  Six  persons 
appeared  to  be  near  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  among  whom  is 
the  old  man  whose  son  threatens^to  turn  him  out  of  doors. 
In  the  afternoon,  proceeded  down  the  river,  and  came  to  a 
village  of  Toung-thoos,  a  race  of  people  from  whom  we  have 
never  yet  obtained  a  disciple.  They  are  strict  Buddhists. 
Their  language  is  entirely  different  from  the  Kareir,  but  the 
men  generally  understand  a  little  Burmese.  We  did  all  in 
our  power  to  gain  their  confidence,  but  in  vain.  They  re- 
jected our  overtures,  and  would  not  even  allow  us  to  sleep  in 
their  houses. 

"  February  6.  Went  on  our  way ;  entered  the  Maizeen 
rivulet,  which  falls  into  the  Salwen  from  the  east,  and  landed 
at  Kai-ngai's  village,  where  we  spent  a  few  hours,  but,  not 
meeting  with  much  encouragement,  in  the  evening  dropped 
down  to  the  mouth  of  the  rivulet,  where,  finding  some  rela- 
tions of  Pan-lah,  who  listened  well,  we  spent  the  night 

"  February  7.  Proceeded  down  the  river  to  Kappay's 
village,  where  some  listened  with  delight ;  thence  to  a  small 
village  on  the  Burman  side  ;  thence  to  Pah-an,  on  the  Brit- 
ish side;  and  thence  to  Rajah's  village,  on  the  same  side, 
where  we  spent  the  night.  The  chief,  who  had  heard  the 
gospel  before,  now  listened  with  the  utmost  eagerness  till 
after  midnight. 

"  February  8.  Rajah  made  a  formal  request  to  be  admit- 
ted into  the  Christian  church,  and  we  had  no  hesitation  in 
complying.  He  is  the  first  Karen  chief  baptized  in  these 
parts.  His  people  show  a  strange  aversion.  Not  one  of  them 
would  accompany  us  to  the  water,  though  he  gave  them  an 
invitation.  They  seem  to  take  side  with  his  eldest  son,  a  grown 
man,  who  has  been  a  Buddhist  priest,  and  is  still  strongly 
attached  to  that  religion.  After  the  baptism,  we  went  to 
a  small  village  below  Rajah's  ;  thence  to  Taroke-lah,  inhabited 
by  Talings ;  thence  to  a  village  of  Toung-thoos,  where  we 


PREACHING   TOURS    IN   THE   JUNGLES.  413 

found  one  man  that  listened ;  thence  to  a  Karen  village  below 
Kan-blike.  In  the  evening,  had  a  considerable  assembly. 
Three  persons  professed  to  believe. 

"February  9.  Visited  Wen-gyan,  Pah-len,  and  Zong- 
ing,  Taling  villages,  where  we  found  a  few  Karens.  At  the 
latter  place,  collected  a  small  assembly  for  evening  worship. 
A  few  professed  to  believe  ;  others  were  violent  in  opposing. 

"February  10.  Visited  several  Taling  villages  in  succes- 
sion. In  the  afternoon,  readied  the  confluence  of  the  Salwen 
and  the  Gyne,  upon  which  we  turned  into  the  latter,  and 
went  up  to  Taranah,  where  Ko  Shan  resides,  as  mentioned 
December  29.  The  inhabitants  of  this  place,  like  the  Ta- 
lings  in  general,  are  inveterately  opposed  to  the  gospel,  and 
Ko  Shan  has  had  very  little  success.  Two  or  three  individ- 
uals, however,  appear  to  be  favorably  impressed ;  but  the 
opposition  is  so  strong  that  no  one  dares  to  come  forward. 

"  February  11.  Left  Ko  Shan,  with  the  promise  of  send- 
ing him  aid  as  soon  as  possible,  and  in  the  afternoon  reached 
Maulmain,  after  an  absence  of  six  weeks,  during  which  I 
have  baptized  twenty-five,  and  registered  about  the  same 
number  of  hopeful  inquirers." 

M  February  29,  1832.  Left  Maulmain  for  the  Karen  vil- 
lages on  the  Salwen,  accompanied  by  Ko  Myat-kyau,  who 
speaks  Karen,  three  other  Taling  disciples,  and  the  two 
Karen  assistants,  Panlah  and  Chet-thing.  The  other  Karen 
assistant,  Tau-nah,  I  expect  to  meet  at  Chummerah,  accord- 
ing to  the  arrangement  of  February  4.  At  night,  reached 
Tong-eing,  and  found  that  the  few  Karens  near  the  place  had 
concluded  to  reject  the  gospel. 

"March  1.  Touched  at  the  village  above  Nengyan,  and 
found  that  the  inhabitants  have  come  to  the  same  conclusion, 
*  till  the  next  rainy  season.'  Passed  by  all  the  Taling  towns, 
and  touched  at  the  village  below  Rajah's,  where  we  found 
that  the  people  still  adhere  to  the  new  Karen  prophet,  Aree- 


414  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

niaday.  Moung  Zuthee  unfortunately  encountered  a  very 
•respectable  Burman  priest,  with  a  train  of  novices,  who,  not 
relishing  his  doctrine,  fell  upon  him,  and  gave  him  a  sound 
beating.  The  poor  man  fled  to  me  in  great  dismay,  and,  I 
am  sorry  to  say,  some  wrath,  begging  leave  to  assemble  our 
forces,  and  seize  the  aggressor,  for  the  purpose  of  delivering 
him  up  to  justice.  I  did  assemble  them ;  and,  all  kneeling 
down,  I  praised  God  that  he  had  counted  one  of  Our  number 
worthy  to  suffer  a  little  for  his  Son's  sake ;  and  prayed  that 
he  would  give  us  a  spirit  of  forgiveness,  and  our  persecutors 
every  blessing,  temporal  and  spiritual ;  after  which  we  left 
the  field  of  battle  with  cool  and  happy  minds.  Reached  Ra- 
jah's late  at  night.  He  remains  firm,  though  not  followed  by 
any  of  his  people.  His  wife,  however,  and  eldest  daughter, 
after  evening  worship,  declared  themselves  on  the  side  of 
Christ. 

"  March  2.  Spent  the  forenoon  in  instructing  and  examin- 
ing the  wife  and  daughter.  The  former  we  approved,  but 
rejected  the  latter,  as  not  yet  established  in  the  Christian 
faith.  After  the  Baptism,  Rajah  and  his  wife  united  in  pre- 
senting their  younger  children,  that  I  might  lay  my  hands  on 
them  and  bless  them.  The  elder  children,  being  capable  of 
discerning  good  from  evil,  came  of  their  own  accord,  and 
held  up  their  folded  hands  in  the  act  of  homage  to  their  pa- 
rents' God,  while  we  offered  a  prayer  that  they  might  obtain 
grace  to  become  true  disciples,  and  receive  the  holy  ordi- 
nance of  baptism.  At  noon,  left  this  interesting  family,  and 
proceeded  up  the  river,  stopping  occasionally  and  preaching,* 
wherever  we  could  catch  a  listening  ear.  Entered  the  Mai- 
san,  and  landed  at  the  village  above  Rai-ngai's,  which  Ko 
Myat-kyau  has  formerly  visited.  In  the  evening,  had  two 
very  attentive  hearers. 

"  March  3.  The  two  attentive  hearers  were  up  nearly  all 
night,  drinking  in  the  truth.     One  of  them  became  urgent 


PREACHING  TOURS  IN  THE  JUNGLES.    415 

• 
for  baptism ;  and  on  bearing  his  present  and  past  experience, 
from  the  time  he  first  listened  to  the  gospel,  we  concluded  to 
receive  him  into  the  fellowship  of  the  church.  His  wife  is 
very  favorably  disposed,  but  not  so  far  advanced  in  knowl- 
edge and  faith.  Returned  to  the  Sal  wen,  and  made  a  long 
pull  for  Poo-door's  village  ;  but  late  in  the  evening,  being 
still  at  a  considerable  distance,  were  obliged  to  coil  ourselves 
up  iu  our  small  boat,  there  being  no  house  in  these  parts, 
and  the  country  swarming  with  tigers  at  this  season,  so  that 
none  of  us  ventured  to  sleep  on  shore. 

"^larch  4,  Lord's  day.  Uncoiled  ourselves  with  the  first 
dawn  of  light,  and  soon  after  sunrise  took  possession  of  a 
tine  flat  log,  in  the  middle  of  Poo-door's  village'  a  mile  from 
the  river,  where  we  held  forth  on  the  duty  of  refraining  from 
work  on  this  the  Lord's  day,  and  attending  divine  worship. 
Some  listened  to  our  words ;  and  in  the  forenoon  we  suc- 
ceeded in  collecting  a  small  assembly.  After  worship,  the  old 
man  mentioned  formerly,  whose  son  threatened  to  turn  him 
out  of  doors,  came  forward,  with  his  wife ;  and  having  both 
witnessed  a  good  confession,  we  received  them  into  our  fellow- 
ship. Poo-door  himself  absent  on  a  journey  ;  but  his  wife 
ready  to  become  a  Christian.      / 

••  March  b.  Spent  the  forenoon  in  examining  and  receiving 
another  couple,  and  then  went  on  to  Chummerah.  The  dis- 
ciples from  Tee-pah's  village  have  built  a  zayat,  and  two  or 
three  families,  including  Tau-nah's,  have  arrived,  and  are 
settling  themselves.  At  night,  went  out  to  the  village, 
four  miles  distant,  (instead  of  two,  as  first  reported,)  and 
had  a  full  assembly  of  disciples  and  inquirers  at  evening 
worship. 

••  March  6.  The  truth  is  evidently  spreading  in  this  village  ; 
one  inquirer  after  another  is  coming  ojer  to  the  side  of  Christ. 
After  morning  worship  left  some  of  my  people  to  follow  up 
the  work,  and  returned  to  the  zayat. 


416  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

"  March  7.  In  the  forenoon  above  twenty  disciples  assem- 
bled at  the  zayat ;  and  after  -worship  we  examined  and  re- 
ceived five  persons  more,  all  from  Tee-pah's  village.  Left 
Zuthee  in  charge  of  the  zayat,  and  took  Tau-nah  in  his 
place.  Visited  Pan-choo's  village,  where  some  listened  in 
silence. 

"  March  8.  Went  several  miles  inland  to  visit  Nge  Koung's 
village ;  but  the  people,  being  Buddhist  Karens,  would  not 
even  treat  us  hospitably,  much  less  listen  to  the  word.  In 
the  afternoon  reached  Yah-dans  village,  and  visited  the 
little  church,  chiefly  to  receive  the  confession  of  two  female 
members,  who  have  been  implicated  in  making  some  offer- 
ing to  the  demon  who  rules  over  diseases  —  the  easily  beset- 
ting sin  of  the  Karens.  Spent  the  rest  of  the  day  in 
preaching  to  the  villagers  and  visitors  from  different  parts. 
Several  professed  to  believe.  Had  a  profoundly  attentive 
though  small  assembly  at  evening  worship,  on  the  broad  sand 
bank  of  the  river,  with-  a  view  to  the  accommodation  of 
certain  boat  people.  We  felt  that  the  Holy  Spirit  set  home 
the  truth  in  a  peculiar  manner.  Some  of  the  disciples  were 
engaged  in  religious  discussion  and  prayer  a  great  part  of 
the  night. 

"  March  9.  Several  requested  baptism.  In  the  course  of 
the  day  we  held  a  church  meeting,  composed  of  the  disciples 
from  Maulmain,  and  others  from  the  neighboring  village, 
and  received  three  persons  into  our  communion,  all  men, 
formerly  disciples  of  the  new  prophet  Areemaday.  In  the 
afternoon,  proceeded  up  the  river,  as  far  as  Zat-zan's  village, 
where  two  old  women,  of  some  influence  in  these  parts,  lis- 
tened with  good  attention.  At  night  severaf  of  the  disciples 
went  inland  a  few  miles,  to  Laidan,  where  the  inhabitants 
are  chiefly  Buddhist  Ifcirens ;  but  finding  Mah  Kee-kah,  the 
widow  of  Pan-mlai-mlo,  whose  death  is  mentioned  January 
1 2,  her  parents  and  sisters  drank  in  the  truth.  Hope  to  visit 
them  on  my  return. 


PREACHING  TOUHS  IN  THE  JUNGLES.    417 

"  March  10.  "Went  on  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yen-being,  and 
as  far  as  the  great  log,  which  prevents  a  boat  from  proceeding 
further.  Providentially  met  with  Wah-hai,  of  whom  I  have 
heanl  a  good  report  for  some  time,  He  was  happy  to  see  us, 
and  we  were  happy  to  examine  and  baptize  him.  We  then 
visited  the  village,  whence  they  formerly  sent  a  respectful 
.  desiring*  us  to  go  about  our  business,  and  found  some 
attentive  listeners. 

••  .March  11,  Lord's  day.  Again  took  the  main  river,  and 
soon  fell  in  with  a  boat  containing  several  of  the  listeners  of 
lay,  among  whom  was  one  man  who  declared  his  res- 
olution to  enter  the  new  religion.  We  had  scarcely  parted 
with  this  boat  when  we  met  another,  full  of  men,  coming 
down  the  stream;  and,  on  hailing  to  know  whether  they 
wished  to  hear  the  gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  an  el- 
derly man,  the  chief  of  the  party,  replied  that  he  had  al- 
ready heard  much  of  the  gospel ;  and  there  was  nothing  he 
desired  more  than  to  have  a  meeting  with  the  teacher.  Our 
boats  were  soon  side  by  side,  where,  after  a  short  engage- 
ment, the  old  man  struck  his  colors,  and  begged  us  to  take 
him  into  port,  where  he  could  make  a  proper  surrender  of 
burnetf  to  Christ.  We  accordingly  went  to  the  shora,  and 
spent  several  hours  very  delightfully,  under  the  shade  of  the 
overhanging  trees,  and  the  banner  of  the  love  of  Jesus. 
The  old  man's  experience  was  so  clear,  arid  his  desire  lor 
baptism  so  strong,  that,  though  circumstances  prevented  our 
gaining  so  much  testimony  of  his  good  conduct  since  believ- 
ing as  we  usually  require,  we  felt  that  it  would  be  wrong  to 
refuse  his  request.  A  lad  in  his  company,  the  person  men- 
tioned January  30,  desired  also  to  be  baptized.  But  though 
he  had  been  a  preacher  to  the  old  man,  his  experience  was  not 
so  decided  and  satisfactory;  so  that  we  rejected  him  for  the 
The  old  man  went  on  his  way,  rejoicing  aloud,  and 
leclaring  his  resolution  to  make  known  the  eternal  God,  and 
27 


418  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

the  dying  love  of  Jesus,  all  along  the  banks  of  the  Yoon-za- 
len,  his  native  stream. 

"  The  dying  words  of  an  aged  man  of  God,  when  he  waved 
his  withered,  death-struck  arm,  and  exclaimed :  '  The  best 
of  all  is,  God  is  with  us,'  I  feel  in  my  very  soul.  Yes, 
the  great  Invisible  is  in  these  Karen  wilds.  That  mighty 
Being,  who  heaped  up  these  craggy  rocks,  and  reared  these 
stupendous  mountains,  and  poured  out  these  streams  in  all  di- 
rections, and  scattered  immortal  beings  throughout  these 
deserts  —  he  is  present  by  the  influence  of  his  Holy  Spirit, 
and  accompanies  the  sound  of  the  gospel  with  converting, 
sanctifying  power.     '  The  best  of  all  is,  God  is  with  us.7 

1  In  these  deserts  let  me  labor, 
On  these  mountains  let  me  tell 
How  he  died  —  the  blessed  Saviour, 
To  redeem  a  world  from  hell.' 

"  March  12.  Alas !  how  soon  is  our  joy  turned  into  mourn- 
ing !  Mah  Nyah-ban,  of  whom  we  all  had  such.a  high  opinion, 
joined  her  husband,  not  many  days  after  their  baptism,  in 
making  an  offering  to  the  demon  of  diseases,  on  account  of 
the  sudden,  alarming  illness  of  their  youngest  child ;  and 
they  have  remained  ever  since  in  an  impenitent,  prayerless 
state.  They  now  refuse  to  listen  to  our  exhortation,  and  ap- 
pear to  be  given  over  to  hardness  of  heart  and  blindness  of 
mind.  I  was  therefore  obliged,  this  morning,  to  pronounce 
the  sentence  of  suspension,  and  leave  them  to  the  mercy  and 
judgment  of  God.  Their  case  is  greatly  to  be  deplored. 
They  are  quite  alone  in  this  quarter,  have  seen  no  disciples 
since  we  left  them,  and  are  surrounded  with  enemies,  some 
from  Maulmain,  who  have  told  them  all  manner  of  lies,  and 
used  every  effort  to  procure  and  perpetuate  their  apostasy. 
When  I  consider  the  evidence  of  grace  which  they  formerly 
gave,  together  with  all  the  palliating  circumstances  of  the 


PREACHING  TOURS  IN  THE  JUNGLES.    419 

case,  I  have  much  remaining  hope  that  they  will  yet  be 
brought  to  repentance.  I  commend  them  to  the  prayers  of 
the  faithful,  and  the  notice  of  any  missionary  who  may  travel 
that  way.  In  consequence  of  the  advantage  which  Satan 
has  gained  in  this  village,  the  six  hopeful  inquirers,  whom  we1 
left  here,  have  all  fallen  oif;  so  that  we  are  obliged  to  retire 
with  the  dispirited  feelings  of  beaten  troops. 

"  I  respectfully  request,  and  sincerely  hope,  that  this  article 
may  be  neither  suppressed  nor  polished.  The  principle  of 
•  double  selection,'  as  it  is  termed,  that  is,  one  selection  by  the 
missionary  and  another  by  the  publishing  committee,  has 
done  great  mischief,  and  contributed  more  to  impair  the 
credit  of  missionary  accounts  than  any  thing  else.  We  in 
the  East,  knowing  how  extensively  this  principle  is  acted  on, 
do  scarcely  give  any  credit  to  the  statements  which  appear 
in  some  periodicals,  and  the  public  at  large  are  beginning  to 
open  their  eyes  to  the  same  thing.  It  is  strange  to  me  that 
missionaries  and  publishing  committees  do  not  see  the  excel- 
lency and  ellicary  of  the  system  pursued  by  the  inspired  writ- 
ers—  that  of  exhibiting  the  good  and  the  bad  alike.  Nothing 
contributes  more  to  establish  the  authenticity  of  the  writing. 
A  temporary  advantage  gained  by  suppressing  truth,  is  a 
real  defeat  in  the  end,  and  therefore  (mvtj  -&vteov  afafteut.* 

"  Returned  down  the  river;  reentered  the  Yen-being ;  had 
another  interview  with  the  listeners  of  yesterday ;  met  with 
a  Taling  doctor  from  Kan-hlah,  near  Maulmain,  who  listened 
all  the  evening  with  evident  delight. 

"March  13.  Spent  the  day  and  night  at  Tatzan's,  Se- 
hai's,  and  the  village  of  Lai-dan,  where  we  failed  of  finding 
Mali  Kee-kah,  but  found  her  parents,  who  listened  well.  In 
these  parts  I  have  a  considerable  number  of  hopeful  inquir- 
ers.   May  the  Lord  bless  the  seed  sown,  and  give  us  the 

*  We  must  sacrifice  only  to  truth. 


420  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

pleasure  of  reaping  a  plentiful  harvest  at  no  very  distant 
period. 

"  March  14.  Touched  at  Yah-dan's,  and  went  down  the 
west  side  of  Kan-long,  as  before,  to  Thah-pa-nike's ;  (15,) 
proceeded  to  Ti-yah-bans,  where  we  left  a  few  hopeful  in- 
quirers ;  and  then  went  on  to  Pa-dah's  village.  In  the  even- 
ing, had  worship  at  the  chief's  house. 

"March  16.  The  opposition  here  is  violent.  The  man 
who  was  baptized  on  my  last  visit,  has  been  obliged  to  re- 
move to  the  outskirts  of  the  village,  but  he  remains  steadfast 
in  the  faith ;  and  to-day  another  man  came  out,  and  having 
witnessed  a  good  confession,  was  received  into  the  fellowship 
of  the  persecuted.  At  night,  ran  down  to  Poo-door's  village, 
about  five  miles ;  found  him  at  home,  and  spent  the  evening 
in  persuading  him  to  forsake  all  for  Christ.  His  language  is 
that  of  Agrippa:  'Almost,'  &c.  I  have  great  hopes  and 
great  fears  for  his  immortal  soul.  Three  of  the  disciples 
went  several  miles  inland,  to  a  village  where  there  are  some 
hopeful  inquirers. 

"  March  1 7.  Returned  up  the  river  to  Chummerah.  In 
the  evening,  had  a  considerable  assembly  of  disciples  prepar- 
atory to  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  supper. 

"  March  18.  Administered  the  Lord's  supper  to  thirty-six 
communicants,  chiefly  from  villages  on  the  Salwen. 

"  March  19.  Left  Tau-nah  and  Moung  Tsan-lone  in 
charge  of  the  zayat  and  boat,  and  set  out  with  the  rest  of  my 
people,  and  two  or  three  new  followers,  on  a  journey  over- 
land to  the  Dah-gyne.  In  the  evening,  after  marrying  a 
couple  at  Tee-pah's  village,  had  an  interesting  assembly,  with 
whom  we  enjoyed  religious  discussion  till  near  midnight. 
Two  opposers  came  over,  I  trust,  to  Christ. 

"  March  20.  Went  on  our  way,  and  in  two  hours  and  a 
quarter,  not  including  stops,  reached  Kwanbee,  on  the  east 
of  the  Leing-bwai.     Two  hours  and  a  quarter  more  brought 


PREACHING  TOURS  IN  THE  JUNGLES.     421 

ns  to  Mai-pah,  where  the  people,  being  prejudiced  against 
the  gospel,  gave  us  a  poor  reception. 

'•March  21.  In  a  neighboring  village,  found  a  few  who 
listened  well.  After  spending  the  morning  in  instructing 
them,  continued  our  journey  eastwardly,  and  after  two  and 
a  half  hours'  hard  walking,  reached  a  small  village  near  the 
Dah-gyne,  where  the  people  received  us  hospitably,  but, 
being  Buddhists,  listened  with  no  good  disposition. 

••  -March  22.  Reached  the  new  place  selected  January  9, 
which  we  call  Newville,  about  forty  miles  distant,  I  conjec- 
turef  from  Chummerah.  Found  two  families  only  settled 
here,  but  others  are  about  joining  them.  Some  of  the  disci- 
ples went  to  the  neighboring  villages  to  give  information  of 
my  arrival. 

"  March  23.  Most  of  the  disciples  visited  me  in  the  course 
of  the  day.  In  the  evening,  had  a  pretty  full  room.  Received 
and  baptized  one  couple,  who  applied  for  baptism  on  my 
first  visit,  but  were  rejected. 

•  March  24.  Having  removed  Moung  Doot  from  this 
station,  — who,  though  a  good  man,  has  grown  cold  and  in- 
active,—  appointed  Pan-lah  in  his  place,  and  selected  a  few 
individuals  for  the  adult  school,  we  set  out  on  our  return  to 
Chummerah,  and  at  night  reached  Mai-pah,  twenty  miles 
distant,  being  half-way  between  the  two  stations. 

"  March  25.  In  the  morning,  had  a  small,  attentive  assem- 
bly, from  one  of  the  neighboring  villages.  Then  went  on  to 
Tee-pah's  village,  which  we  reached  in  season  for  evening 
worship. 

"March  26.  Three  lads  from  Tee-pah's  village,  two  of 
them  baptized,  joined  our  company,  with  a  view  to  the  adult 
school  at  Maulmain.  Took  the  boat  at  Chummerah,  and 
went  down  the  river.  Spent  the  night  at  Rajah's  village. 
Some  begin  to  listen. 

"  March  27.    Ran  down  the  river  without  touching  at  any 


422  THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

place  by  the  way.  At  night,  reached  Maulmain,  after  an 
absence  of  nearly  a  month,  during  which  I  have  baptized 
nineteen,  making  eighty  Karen  Christians  in  connection  with 
the  Maulmain  station,  of  whom  one  is  dead,  and  two  are  sus- 
pended from  communion.  Am  glad,  yet  sorry,  to  find  that 
brother  Bennett  arrived  a  fortnight  ago  from  Calcutta,  with 
a  complete  fount  of  types,  and  yesterday  sent  a  boat  to  call 
me,  which,  however,  passed  us  on  the  way.  Must  I,  then, 
relinquish  my  intention  of  making  another  trip  up  the  river, 
before  the  rains  set  in  ?  Must  I  relinquish  for  many  months, 
and  perhaps  forever,  the  pleasure  of  singing  as  I  go :  —  . 

'  In  these  deserts  let  me  labor, 
On  these  mountains  let  me  tell  ?  ' 

Truly,  the  tears  fall  as  I  write." 

The  whole  number  of  Karens  received  to  church- 
membership  on  profession  of  their  faith,  within  twenty- 
five  years,  amounts,  as  nearly  as  can  now  be  ascertained, 

to  about  TWENTY  THOUSAND. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


LABORS    OP   THE    STUDY. 


Very  early  in  Dr.  Judson's  residence  in  Burmah, 
he  became  convinced  that  the  Press  must  be  one  of 
the  chief  instruments  of  its  regeneration.  He  found 
its  inhabitants  a  reading  people,  beyond  any  other  in 
India ;  *  of  a  remarkably  inquisitive,  speculating  turn 
of  mind,  not  disposed  to  admit  any  new  doctrine,  with- 
out a  full  apprehension  of  the  why  and  wherefore.  In 
regard,  especially,  to  a  change  of  religion,  which  in- 
volved so  much  worldly  sacrifice,  and  even  the  risk  of 
life,  the  cool  and  cautious  Burman  was  doubly  on  his 
guard ;  and,  as  a  general  thing,  the  reception  of  Chris- 
tianity was  the  result  of  deep  conviction  of  the  under- 
standing. "  It  is,"  says  Mr.  Judson  at  a  subsequent 
period,  "  rather  characteristic  of  Burman  converts, 
that  they  are  slow  in  making  up  their  minds  to  em- 

*  He  states,  in  one  of  his  Jetters,  that  five  millions,  that  is,  about 
one  third  of  the  population,  knew  how  to  read. 


424  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

brace  a  new  religion;  but  the  point  once  settled,  is 
settled  forever."  He  describes  one  individual  as  "  a 
pretty  fair  specimen  of  a  cautious  Burman,  who  turns 
a  thing  over  ten  thousand  times  before  he  takes  it; 
but  when  once  he  takes  it,  holds  it  forever."  In  his 
earliest  attempts  to  communicate  Christian  ideas,  he 
was  met  with  the  inquiry :  "  Where  are  your  sacred 
books  ?  "  He  saw  that,  in  christianizing  such  a  people, 
"  the  hearing  of  the  ear  "  would  not  alone  suffice.  '"  I 
have  found,"  he  writes  in  1817,  "  that  I  could  not 
preach  publicly  to  any  advantage,  without  being  able, 
at  the  same  time,  to  put  something  in  the  hands  of  the 
hearers.  And  in  order  to  qualify  myself  to  do  this,  I 
have  found  it  absolutely  necessary  to  keep  at  home, 
and  to  confine  myself  to  close  study  for  three  or  four 
years." 

A  short  time  previous,  he  had  announced  the  print- 
ing of  a  couple  of  tracts ;  the  one  a  View  of  the  Chris- 
tian Religion,  a  thousand  copies ;  the  other  a  Catechism, 
four  thousand  copies.  These,  though  written  within 
four  years  after  his  first  arrival  in  Rangoon,  proved 
to  be  perfectly  intelligible  to  the  natives,  and  have  re- 
mained standard  works  to  this  day.  It  was  not  long 
before  "  the  first  inquirer  "  presented  himself,  with  the 
momentous  question  :  "  How  long  will  it  take  me  to 
learn   the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  ? "     "  How  came 


LABORS  OF  THE  STUDY.  425 

you,"  it  was  asked,  "  to  know  any  thing  of  Jesus  ? 
Have  you  ever  been  here  before  ?  "  "  No."  "  Have 
you  seen  any  writing  concerning  Jesus  ?  "  "I  have 
seen  two  little  books."  "  Who  is  Jesus  ?  "  "  He  is 
the  Son  of  God,  who,  pitying  creatures,  came  into  this 
world,  and  suffered  death  in  their  stead."  "  Who  is 
God  ? "  "  He  is  a  being  without  beginning  or  end, 
who  is  not  subject  to  old  age  or  death,  but  always  is." 
"  I  cannot  tell,"  adds  Mr.  Judson,  "  how  I  felt  at  this 
moment.  This  was  the  first  acknowledgment  of  an 
eternal  God,  that  I  had  ever  heard  from  the  lips  of  a 
Burman."  He  then  attempted  to  enter  into  conver- 
sation with  the  visitor,  in  order  to  communicate  to  him 
something  more  respecting  God  and  Christ;  but  he 
gave  little  attention,  seeming  intent  only  on  obtaining 
"  more  of  this  kind  of  writino."  After  watch- 
ing three  weeks  in  vain  for  the  reappearance  of  this 
interesting  inquirer,  Mr.  Judson  learned,  accidentally, 
that  the  reading  of  these  books  had  been  his  sole  em- 
ployment in  the  interval ;  and  that  he  showed  them  to 
every  one  who  called  on  him.  The  story  is  a  striking 
illustration  of  the  trait  of  Burman  character  above 
referred  to.  A  similar  case,  more  interesting  still, 
from  its  rich  results,  was  related  by  him  in  an  address 
to  the  students  of  Brown  University,  during  his  visit 
in  this  country. 


426  THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

"  In  the  early  part  of  his  residence  in  Rangoon  (he  went 
on  to  relate)  a  Burman  philosopher,  attended  by  his  pupils, 
on  their  way  to  a  neighboring  pagoda,  was  wont  to  pass  the 
place  where  he  lived,  and  from  which  he  instructed  the 
people.  On  one  occasion,  the  philosopher  was  stopped  by 
the  crowd  gathered  about  Dr.  Judson,  and  his  eye  acciden- 
tally fell  upon  the  first  tract  that  was  published  in  the  Bur- 
mese language,"  the  opening  words  of  which  announced  the 
existence  of  a  living,  eternal  God.  These  significant  words 
arrested  his  whole  attention,  and  he  stood  a  long  time,  as  in 
profound  thought,  his  whole  soul  absorbed  with  the  great 
truth  which  they  taught.  To  himself,  as  well  as  the  whole 
nation,  this  was  a  new  idea,  and  it  led  to  a  long  course  of 
study  and  investigation,  which  finally  resulted  in  the  renun- 
ciation of  the  religion  of  his  country,  and  the  adoption  of 
Christianity. 

"  He  was  baptized,  and  commenced  a  course  of  zealous 
labor  as  a  Christian  teacher.  He  soon  became  obnoxious  to 
the  government,  and  was  tried  and  condemned  to  death. 
But,  before  the  day  of  execution  came  on,  he  effected  his 
escape,  and  fled  from  the  city.  Since  that  time  Dr.  Jud- 
son had  never  seen  him,  nor  learned  any  particulars  of  his 
life,  but  had  frequently  heard  of  him,  through  persons  who 
came  a  long  distance  from  the  interior,  in  search  of- tracts 
and  Bibles,  having  been  awakened  to  inquiry,  and  converted 
to  the  Christian  faith,  by  his  instructions." 

In  addition  to  these  tracts,  he  prepared  others  from 
time  to  time,  some  for  awakening  attention  among  the 
people ;  others,  for  the  instruction  of  the  converts,  or 
as  aids  to  the  native  assistants.  He  did  not  even  think 
it  beneath  him  to  draw  up  a  little  manual  of  astronomy, 


LABORS  OF  THE  STUDY.  427 

and  another  of  geography,  for  use  in  the  schools.  To 
the  class  first  mentioned,  belongs  The  Golden  Balance, 
written  in  1829,  a  popular  appeal  to  the  understanding 
of  the  sagacious  Burmans,  founded  on  a  comparison  of 
Buddhism  with  Christianity.  Assuming  nothing  but 
what  they  themselves  admit  concerning  Gaudama  and 
his  doctrines,  a  bold  contrast  is  drawn  between  the 
leading  points  of  the  two  religions,  to  which,  in  closing, 
he  challenges  attention  in  a  style  well  adapted  to  those 
whom  he  addressed :  "  O  ye  Talings  and  Burmans ! 
if  through  fear  that  your  dark  neighbors  will  revile 
you,  you  dare  not  open  both  eyes,  do  pray  open  one 
eye  the  breadth  of  a  hair,  and,  in  pity  to  yourselves, 
take  one  look."  This  tract  has  been  very  widely  cir- 
culated, and  has  exerted  a  powerful  influence  on  the 
native  mind.* 

But,  above  all,  the  knowledge  of  God's  own  Word 
was,  in  his  view,  not  only  preeminently  desirable  as  an 
adjunct  to  missionary  labor,  but  its  only  true  and  per- 
manent foundation.  Dr.  Judson  was  thoroughly  im- 
bued with  the  great  Protestant  doctrine,  the  right  of 
every  man  to  know  for  himself,  without  the  interven- 
tion of  any  human  medium,  the  will  of  God  as  re- 
vealed in  his  own  inspired  Scriptures.     He  would  not 

*  A  translation  of  The  Golden  Balance,  by  the  author's  own  hand, 
will  be  found  in  the  Appendix  to  Dr.  Wayland's  Memoir,  ii.  448. 


428 


THE    EARNEST    MAN. 


even  venture  to  commence  preaching,  without  some 
portion  of  the  sacred  volume,  to  which  he  could  refer 
as  his  ultimate  authority,  and  by  which  his  hearers 
could  themselves  test  his  teachings. 

Accordingly,  after  trying  his  hand  at  Burman  com- 
position in  the  tracts  first  mentioned,  he  immediately 
applied  himself  to  the  translation  of  the  Gospel  of 
Matthew,  of  which  he  proposed  to  print  a  small  edition, 
"  by  way  of  trial,  and  as  introductory  to  a  larger 
edition  of  the  whole  New  Testament."  This  was  the 
commencement  of  that  great  work,  whose  completion, 
twenty-three  years  after,  marks  the  most  important 
epoch  in  the  history  of  Burmah,  when  the  Bible  be- 
came the  inalienable  inheritance  of  her  children. 

Through  several  succeeding  years,  the  labor  was 
prosecuted  under  great  difficulties,  the  necessities  of 
the  mission  allowing  him,  for  the  most  part,  to  devote 
to  it  only  scattered  intervals  of  leisure,  gleaned  from 
more  pressing  avocations.  The  translation  of  the  en- 
tire New  Testament  was  finished  in  June,  1823.* 

*  the  story  of  the  preservation  of  this  precious  work,  related  by- 
Mrs.  Judson,  might  adorn  the  page  of  romance.  It  was  taken  to 
Ava  in  manuscript;  and  when  Mr.  Judson  was  thrown  into  prison, 
was  secretly  sewed  up  by  his  wife  in  a  cushion  too  hard  and  un- 
sightly to  tempt  the  cupidity  even  of  his  jailers,  and  used  by  him  as 
a  pillow.  When,  at  the  close  of  seven  months,  he  and  his  fellow 
sufferers  were  so  rudely  thrust  into  the  inner  prison,  the  old  pillow 
fell  to  the  share  of  one  of  the  keepers ;  but  finding  it  probably  too 


LABORS    OP   THE    STUDY.  429 

On  his  return  to  Amherst,  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
he  resumed  the  work ;  and,  from  the  year  1828,  it  be- 
came his  chief  employment  The  conviction  constantly 
grew  upon  him,  that  this  was  his  assigned  calling  in 
the  kingdom  of  God,  his  life-work,  and  that  his  undi- 
vided energies  must  be  henceforth  consecrated  to  its 
accomplishment.  On  the  last  day  of  January,  1834, 
lie  thus  records  the  attainment  of  his  wishes,  by  the 
completion  of  the  entire  Old  Testament. 

"January  31,  1834.  Thanks  be  to  God,  I  can  nbw  say  I 
have  attained.  I  have  knelt  down  befpre  him,  with  the  last 
leaf  in  my  hand,  and  imploring  his  forgiveness  for  all  the  sins 
which  have  polluted  my  labors  in  this  department,  and  his 
aid  in  future  efforts  to  remove  the  errors  and  imperfections 
which  necessarily  cleave  to  the  work,  I  have  commended  it 
to  his  mercy  and  grace ;  I  have  dedicated  it  to  his  glory. 
May  he  make  his  own  inspired  word,  now  complete  in  the 
Burman  tongue,  the  grand  instrument  of  filling  all  Burmah 
with  songs  of  praise  to  our  great  God  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ.     Amen." 

But  this  was  only  "  the  beginning  of  the  end."  He 
immediately  commenced  a  revision  of  the  whole  work, 

hard  for  his  use,  he  threw  it  back,  and  it  came  once  more  into  its 
owner's  hands.  It  was  again  lost  when  he  was  driven  to  Oung-pen- 
la;  and  being  stripped,  by  one  of  the  attendants,  of  the  mat  which 
was  tied  around  it,  the  roll  of  hard  cotton  was  again  flung  back  into 
the  prison.  Here  it  was  found  by  Moung  Ing,  who  took  it  home,  as 
a  memorial  of  his  teacher,  without  suspecting  its  priceless  contents. 
"  Several  months  after,  the  manuscript,  which  now  makes  a  part  of 
the  Burmese  Bible,  was  found  within,  uninjured." 


430  THE   EARNEST    MAN. 

which  occupied  him  till  near  the  close  of  1840 ;  "  hav- 
ing bestowed,"  as  he  writes  to  Rev.  Dr.  Cone,  soon 
after  its  completion,  "  more  time  and  labor  on  the  re- 
vision, than  on  the  first  translation  of  the  work." . 

Of  the  principles  by  which  he  had  been  guided  in 
his  momentous  task,  one  only,  the  basis  of  all  the  rest, 
need  be  mentioned  here.  It  was  his  single  object  to 
give  a  faithful  expression,  in  the  vernacular  tongue,  of 
every  thought  expressed  in  the  original.  "  I  take  this 
occasion,"  he  writes  in  1841,  "to  say  that  I  heartily 
approve  of  the  resolution  of  the  American  Baptist 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  passed  April,  183-3  :  '  That 
all  missionaries  of  the  Board  who  are,  or  who  shall  be, 
engaged  in  translating  the  Scriptures,  be  instructed  to 
endeavor,  by  earnest  prayer  and  diligent  study,  to  as- 
certain the  exact  meaning  of  the  original  text,  and  to 
express  that  meaning  as  exactly  as  the  nature  of  the 
language  into  which  they  shall  translate  will  admit, 
and  to  transfer  no  words  which  are  capable  of  being 
literally  translated.' " 

Mr.  Judson's  work,  through  his  conscientious  adhe- 
rence to  this  principle,  came  under  the  disapprobation 
of  the  American  Bible  Society,  from  which  aid  had 
been  received  in  publishing  the  Burman  Scriptures. 
On  learning  the  fact,  that  the  versions  by  Baptist  mis- 
sionaries allowed  no  transfer  of  words  from  the  origi- 


LABORS  OP  THE  STUDY.  431 

nal,  which  could  be  expressed  in  the  vernacular  tongue, 
the  Board  of  that  Society  deemed  it  necessary  to  es- 
tablish more  specific  rules,  by  which  their  patronage 
should  in  future  be  regulated.  Their  deliberations  re- 
sulted in  the  resolution,  "to  encourage  such  versions 
only  as  conform  in  the  principles  of  their  translation  to 
the  common  English  version."  Meanwhile,  their  aid 
was  suspended,  till  they  should  be  assured  that  the  ob- 
noxious translations  were  modified  in  accordance  with 
this  direction. 

Compliance  with  such  a  requisition  being  found  im- 
possible, the  majority  of  Baptists  in  the  Board  and 
Society  retired  from  its  ranks.  The  American  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  was  then  organized,  on  the  prin- 
ciple previously  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  and  carried  out  in  Mr.  Judson's  translation. 

Mr.  Judson  hailed  the  formation  of  this  Society,  and 
of  a  kindred  one  in  England,  as  progressive  steps  in 
the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  whose  foundation  is 
Truth.  "  I  approve,"  he  writes  to  the  Corresponding 
Secretary,  July  12,  1839,  "  of  the  principles  on  which 
the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  was  founded, 
and  which  are  repeatedly  recognized  in  their  first  An- 
nual Report,  particularly  that  foreign  translations  are 
not  to  be  conformed  to  the  common  English  versioii." 
See,  also,  the  "  Resignation,"  page  57  of  the  said  Re- 


432  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

port,  beginning  with,  "  He  is  bound  to  express  ;  "  the 
letter  of  Mr.  Hinton  to  Lord  Bexley,  page  66,  begin- 
ning with  "  In  the  name  of  all  that  is  honest ; "  and 
the  5th  reason  of  the  "  Protest,"  page  31  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  The  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 
In  May  of  the  same  year,  he  expressed  himself  as  fol- 
lows, in  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cone  :  * 

Maulmain,  May  17,  1839. 

Very  dear  Brother  :  Many  thanks  for  your  kind  let- 
ter of  last  September.  The  intelligence  contained  therein, 
and  in  the  Annual  Report,  is  of  a  most  animating  nature. 
It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  divine  blessing  rests  on  the 
"  distinct  organization "  of  efforts  for  the  wider  circulation 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  all  lands 

In  your  Annual  Report,  I  see,  that  "  in  the  distribution  of 
the  Scriptures  in  the  English  language,  you  are  to  use  the 
commonly  received  version,  until  otherwise  directed  by  the 
Society."  I  do  not  know  that  I  understand  the  drift  of  the 
resolution  ;  but  it  looks  as  if  a  new  English  version  was  con- 
templated. I  perceive  also,  that  the  bare  suggestion  of  such 
a  project,  is  sufficient  to  fill  some  good  minds  with  horror. 
But  I  must  say  that  I  cannot  sympathize  with  them.  I  be- 
lieve that  the  commonly  received  version  is  one  of  the  very 
best  that  was  ever  made.  But  it  is  not  inspired ;  and  to  pay 
undue  reverence  to  any  human  production,  whether  it  be 
mother  church,  or  mother  translation,  partakes  of  the  nature 

*  For  the  original  of  this  letter,  which  is  given  in  no  previous 
account  of  Dr.  Judson,  (having  been  mislaid  for  some  years,  and  but 
recently  fodnd,)  I  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  my  venerable 
friend,  to  whom  it  was  written 


LABORS  OF  THE  STUDY.  433 

of  idolatry.  I  am  probably  less  averse  to  the  proposal  of  a 
new  translation,  because  the  idea  of  correcting  the  old  one 
has  been  a  favorite  with  me  for  many  years.  I  commenced 
the  work  even  so  long  ago  as  when  I  was  at  Andover,  and 
on  my  passage  out  to  this  country ;  and  it  was  in  studying 
the  Greek,  and  correcting  the  common  version,  that  I  first 
began  to  be  favorable  to  the  Baptist  sentiments.  If  the  work 
should  be  attempted,  the  rush  of  prejudice  would,  doubtless, 
for  a  time,  be  terrific ;  but  the  truth  is  mighty  and  will  prevail. 

Of  Dr.  Judson's  qualifications,  as  a  translator  of  the 
Scriptures,  it  is  necessary  to  add  but  little  here.  His 
natural  gifts,  his  thorough  linguistic  training,  both  clas- 
sical and  sacred,  and  his  wonderful  mastery  of  the 
Burman  tongue,  have  been  already  noticed  in  previous 
chapters.  His  conscientious  fidelity  in  this  most  sacred 
of  all  trusts,  is  worthy  the  study  of  all  who  are  engaged 
in  this  work.  To  the  end  of  life  he  was  a  close  philo- 
logical student ;  availing  himself  of  all  the  aids  of 
modern  scholarship  within  his  reach,  yet  never  allow- 
ing his  translation  to  be,  in  great  or  in  small  points,  a 
mere  reflection  of  the  ideas  of  other  men.  Every  sug- 
gestion was  carefully  weighed  and  tested,  and  its  claims 
fully  established  to  his  own  mind,  before  it  was  per- 
mitted to  Become  his  guide.  He  was  never  weary  of 
revising  and  re-revising  his  labor,  either  to  conform  it 
more  perfectly  to  the  sense  of  the  original,  or  to  give 
to  the  sense  a  more  idiomatic  and  felicitous  expression 

in  Burman. 

28 


434  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

The  pains  he  took,  in  furtherance  of  this  great  object 
of  his  life,  to  forget  his  mother-tongue,  and  to  transfer 
his  entire  intellectual  life  into  the  forms  of  a  foreign 
language,  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  resolute  single- 
ness of  purpose.  He  preached,  it  is  supposed,  but  one 
English  sermon  during  his  whole  residence  in  India ; 
and  when  Dr.  Malcom  visited  him  in  1847,  he  had  not 
then  heard  one  for  fourteen  years.  He  denied  himself 
all  English  reading,  except  a  single  newspaper  and  a 
few  books  of  devotion  ;  relinquished,  so  far  as  possible, 
English  society  and  correspondence ;  and  sought,  by 
exclusive  intercourse  with  the  natives,  and  with  the 
literature  of  the  country,  the  power  not  merely  of  using 
the  words  of  the  language  with  facility,  but  of  thinking 
and  feeling,  of  living  wholly  in  it.  His  mind  was 
steeped  in  Burman  literature  ;  while  his  constant  famil- 
iarity with  all  classes  of  society,  gave  him  command  of 
the  widest  variety  in  the  forms  of  living  speech.  The 
result  was,  a  style  of  composition  in  which  his  own 
strong  mental  characteristics  spontaneously  expressed 
themselves,  with  all  the  freshness  and  force,  all  the 
idiomatic  accuracy  and  elegance,  of  one  "  to  the  manner 
born."  His  Burman  Bible  has  been  pronounced,  by 
high  authority,*  "perfect  as  a  literary  work;"  "an 
imperishable  monument  of  his  genius."     But  its  high- 

*  Dr.  Wayland's  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.  p.  167. 


LABORS    OF    THE    STUDY.  435 

est  praise  is  in  the  fact,  as  stated  by  a  brother  mission- 
ary, that  "  it  is  free  from  all  obscurity  to  the  Burmese 
mind.  It  is  read  and  understood  perfectly.  Its  diction 
is  as  choice  and  elegant  as  the  language  itself,  peculiar- 
ly honorific,  would  afford,  and  conveys,  doubtless,  the 
mind  of  the  Spirit  as  perfectly  as  can  be." 

Yet,  even  now,  he  had  not  fully  reached  his  own 
standard.  He  admits,  indeed,  that  in  regard  to  the  New 
Testament,  and  the  historical  books  of  the  Old,  he  was 
better  satisfied  than  he  ever  expected  to  be.  "  The 
language,"  he  says,  "  is,  I  believe,  simple,  plain,  intelli- 
gible ;  and  I  have  endeavored,  I  hope  successfully,  to 
make  every  sentence  a  faithful  representation  of  the 
original."  "  But,"  he  writes  in  another  letter,  "  the 
beau  ideal  of  translation,  so  far  as  concerns  the  poetical 
and  prophetical  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  I  profess 
not  to  have  attained.  If  I  live  many  years,  of  which  I 
have  no  expectation,  I  shall  have  to  bestow  much  more 
labor  on  those  books."  "They  are  doubtless  suscep- 
tible of  much  improvement,  not  merely  in  point  of 
style,  but  in  the  rendering  of  difficult  passages,  about 
which  the  most  eminent  scholars  are  not  yet  agreed." 

This  labor  he  did  not  live  to  perform,  but  bequeathed 
it,  in  the  noble  spirit  of  a  true  Christian  scholar,  to  his 
successors.  "  I  commend  the  work,  such  as  it  is,"  thus 
lie  writes  to  the  corresponding  secretary,  "  to  God,  to 


436  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

the  church  in  Burmah,  and  to  my  successors  in  this 
department  of  labor ;  begging  them  not  to  spare  my 
errors,  and  yet  not  prematurely  to  correct  a  supposed 
error,  without  consulting  the  various  authors  whom  I 
have  consulted,  and  ascertaining  the  reasons  of  my  po- 
sition ;  and  especially  not  to  adopt  a  plausible  correc- 
tion in  one  instance,  without  inquiring  whether  it  is 
admissible  and  advisable  in  all  parallel  and  similar  pas- 
sages." Judson  was  too  great  a  man  to  regard  the  ap- 
plication of  progressive  scholarship  to  his  work  as  an 
indignity  to  his  memory ;  and  he  was  too  intelligent  a 
Christian,  too  true  a  Protestant,  to  be  willing  that  his 
translation,  or  any  other,  should  receive  the  honor  due 
alone  to  the  sacred  originals.  At  the  same  time,  his 
very  reverence  for  the  originals  made  him  anxious  that 
no  inexperienced  or  rash  hand  should  be  laid  to  the 
revision  of  a  work,  on  which  he  had  spent  the  best 
labors  of  his  life. 

Judging  from  similar  cases  in  the  past,  one  thing  we 
may  regard  as  certain ;  that,  however  future  revisors 
may  improve  his  work,  Judson's  translation  must 
forever  remain,  substantially,  the  Bible  of  Burmah. 
The  first  version  in  the  language,  of  such  general  ac- 
curacy, in  style  and  manner  so  felicitous  a  reflection  of 
the  original,  and  so  purely  vernacular,  it  must  ever  be, 


LABORS  OP  THE  STUDY.  437 

like  Wickliffe's  in  the  English,  the  basis  and  model  of 
all  others  for  the  use  of  the  people. 


A  brief  notice  of  Dr.  Judson's  purely  literary  labors 
will  close  this  chapter. 

The  Burman  Grammar,  the  Pali  Dictionary,  and 
the  Burman  and  English  Dictionary,  which  were  all 
prepared  within  the  first  five  years  of  the  mission,  have 
been  already  noticed  in  Chapter  xn. 

When  he  had  finished  the  final  revision  of  his  Bible 
in  1840,  he  hoped  to  be  allowed  to  return  to  the  field 
of  personal  missionary  effort,  from  which  he  had  been 
so  long  withdrawn  by  his  duties  as  a  translator.  But 
the  wish  was  not  realized.  Nearly  two  years  previous, 
he  had  been  compelled,  by  an  affection  of  the  throat 
and  lungs,  threatening  to  end  in  pulmonary  consump- 
tion, to  refrain,  for  many  months  in  succession,  from 
his  usual  Sabbath  ministrations  to  the  native  church  in 
Maulmain,  of  which  he  was  pastor.  Subsequently,  he 
was  able,  at  intervals,  to  resume  "  the  delightful  work 
of  preaching;"  but  he  never  fully  surmounted  the  dif- 
ficulty, which  returned  upon  him  with  every  exposure 
or  unusual  fatigue.  In  June,  1841,  he  writes:  "My 
own  health  is  poor.  I  am  ever  and  anon  subject  to 
some  ailment ;  and  every  cold  I  take  touches  the  sore 


438  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

place,  and  breaks  down  my  voice."  The  state  of  his 
health  at  length  induced  him  to  yield  a  reluctant  assent 
to  the  pressing  solicitations  of  the  Board,  and  of  his 
missionary  brethren,  and  turn  his  attention  to  the 
preparation  of  a  complete  Burman  and  English  dic- 
tionary. 

While  he  acknowledged  the  great  importance  of  the 
work,  and  could  not  deny  that  he  had  enjoyed  better 
opportunities  than  any  other  man  for  becoming  quali- 
fied for  it,  he  yet  turned  with  strong  aversion  from  this 
dry,  and  as  he  called  it,  "  unmissionary "  drudgery. 
But  no  sooner  was  he  convinced  that  this  also  was  "  a 
work  given  him  to  do,"  than  he  devoted  himself  to  it 
with  all  the  diligence  and  patient  perseverance  of  a 
predestined  lexicographer.  Nay,  more ;  he  reaped  the 
earnest  man's  invariable  reward,  that  of  becoming 
deeply  interested,  and  almost  enthusiastic,  in  his  la- 
bors. 

"  We  are  apt  to  magnify  the  importance  of  any  undertak- 
ing in  which  we  are  warmly  engaged.  Perhaps  it  is  from 
the  influence  of  that  principle,  that,  notwithstanding  my  long- 
cherished  aversion  to  the  work,  I  have  come  to  think  it  very 
important ;  and  that,  having  seen  the  accomplishment  of  two 
objects  on  which  I  set  my  heart  when  I  first  came  out  to  the 
East,  the  establishment  of  a  church  of  converted  natives,  and 
the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  their  language,  I  now  beguile 
my  daily  toil  with  the  prospect  of  compassing  a  third,  which 
may  be  compared  to  a  causeway,  designed  to  facilitate  the 


LABORS  OP  THE  STUDY.  439 

transmission  of  all  kuowledge,  religious  and  scientific,  from 
one  people  to  the  other." 

It  was  his  first  intention  to  make  a  single  work, 
Burmese  and  English ;  but  as  he  proceeded,  his  plan 
enlarged,  and  he  concluded  to  make  it  a  double  work, 
in  two  parts,  the  first  English  aud  Burmese,  the  second 
Burmese  and  English.  When  he  commenced  this 
laborious  undertaking,  he  hoped  to  complete  it  by  the 
end  of  1845.  But  it  grew  under  his  hands;  and  sick- 
ness and  afflictions  brought  frequent  and  long  interrup- 
tions to  his  studies.  In  1849,  he  had  finished  the  first 
part ;  and  had  proceeded  so  far  in  the  second,  as  to  an- 
ticipate its  completion  in  the  course  of  another  year. 
He  then  supposed  that  it  would  make  two  quarto  vol- 
umes of  a  thousand  or  twelve  hundred  pages.  But 
before  that  time  came,  he  had  obtained  his  discharge 
from  all  earthly  toil,  "  bequeathing,"  in  his  own  words, 
"  both  the  plodding  and  the  profit  to  any  brother  who 
shall  be  willing  to  carry  on  and  complete  the  work." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

MISSIONARY   POLICY. 

Mr.  Judson  took  with  him  to  India  no  specific  plan 
of  missionary  operations.  A  few  general  ideas  were 
firmly  fixed  in  his  mind  ;  but  the  details  gradually  de- 
veloped themselves,  as  the  result  of  long-continued 
observation  of  the  working  of  various  methods.  His 
views  never  attained,  indeed,  to  that  iron  rigidity  of 
outline  which  excludes  all  modification,  nor  was  he  the 
man  to  wish  that  his  particular  notions  should  be  en- 
forced as  laws  on  others.  But  the  mature  conclusions 
of  so  comprehensive  and  discriminating  a  mind,  must 
be  of  great  weight  with  reflecting  men  ;  for,  unlike  the 
hobbies  of  narrow  minds,  adopted  by  accident  or  ca- 
price, they  will  always  be  found  to  embody  some  impor- 
tant principle.  To  present  briefly,  the  leading  features 
of  his  views  on  the  conduct  of  missions,  is  the  object 
of  this  chapter. 

1.  The  preaching  of  Christ ;  in  other  words,  the 
direct   communication   of    gospel   truth   to   individual 


MISSIONARY   POLICY.  441 

minds,  as  the  grand  agency  for  Christianizing  a  heathen 
people.  A  preliminary  course  of  training  in'  human 
knowledge,  by  which  they  should  be  gradually  pre- 
pared to  receive  Christian  ideas,  was  entirely  foreign 
to  his  theory,  which  rested  on  a  firm  belief  in  the  adap- 
tation of  the  gospel  to  the  necessities  of  man's  inward 
nature.  Why  should  time  be  spent  in  beguiling  him 
along  through  the  flowery  paths  of  science,  when  there 
is  in  every  human  breast  a  sense  of  guilt,  a  demand  for 
expiation,  a  foreboding  of  future  retribution,  through 
which  the  gospel  can  at  once  reach  to  the  springs  of 
moral  life  ?  His  idea  of  "  preaching,"  however,  em- 
braced more  than  the  mere   oral   communication   of 

» 
truth.     In  whatever  form  it  was  brought   into  direct 

contact  with  the  mind,  whether  through  the  spoken  or 
the  written  word,  the  Saviour's  command,  "  Preach  the 
gospel,"  was  strictly  fulfilled.  Thus  in  his  address, 
when  in  this  country  in  1846,  before  the  American  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  he  says  :  '— 

"  The  word  preach  has  in  modern  usage  acquired  a  mean- 
ing rather  too  specific  for  the  original.  Oral  communication 
may  be  the  first  and  most  obvious,  but  is  certainly  not  the 
exclusive  meaning  of  the  original  word.  It  is  more  faithfully 
represented  in  English  by  the  word  proclaim.  If  a  messen- 
ger from  a  king  or  superior  government  should  be  sent  to  a 
rebellious  province,  to  proclaim  pardon  to  the  inhabitants, 
he  would  evidently  be  fulfilling  his  commission,  whether  he 


442  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

communicated  the  intelligence  by  addressing  the  people  in 
his  own  person,  or  by  inserting  notices  in  the  public  prints, 
or  by  circulating  handbills,  or  by  distributing  authentic  docu- 
ments from  the  sovereign,  declaring  the  terms  of  pardon. 
The  apostle  Paul  did  as  really  and  certainly,  as  effectually 
and  extensively,  proclaim  the  gospel,  when  he  penned  the 
Epistles  to  the  Hebrews  and  the  Romans,  as  when  he  ad- 
dressed the  Jews  in  their  synagogues,  or  received  company 
in  his  own  hired  house  at  Rome.  The  earlier  communi- 
cations of  a  missionary,  sent  to  impart  the  gospel  to  an  unen- 
lightened people,  will  probably  be  of  an  oral  kind ;  but  he 
will  have  very  imperfectly  fulfilled  his  commission,  if  he 
leave  them  without  the  written  word.  The  mischievous  con- 
sequences also  of  such  neglect  are  abundantly  manifest  in  the 
missions  conducted  by  the  man  of  sin.  Protestant  missions 
have  patronized  the  translation  and  distribution  of  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  but  of  late  years  there  has  appeared,  in  one  or  two 
instances,  a  tendency  to  promote  the  oral  communication  of 
the  gospel,  not  indeed  to  an  undue  preeminence,  but  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  throw  a  shade  over  the  written  communi- 
cation, by  means  of  tracts  and  Scriptures.  In  examining  (he 
annals  of  modern  missions,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  which 
mode  of  communicating  the  gospel  among  a  reading  nation, 
has  received  the  greatest  share  of  divine  blessing,  and  been 
instrumental  of  bringing  most  souls  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth.  And  however  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  in  its 
common  acceptation,  and  the  distribution  of  tracts,  may  se- 
cure earlier  effects,  and  be  regarded  as  more  popular,  all 
missionary  operations,  to  be  permanently  successful,  must  be 
based  on  the  written  word." 

To  his  mind,  there  was  nothing  antagonistic  in  these 
different  methods.      They  were  mutually  supplemen- 


MISSIONARY    POLICY.  4^3 

tary.  Neither  of  them  could  do  without  the  other,  and 
each  grew  by  the  increase  of  the  other.  He  would 
have  flooded  Burmah,  if  he  could,  with  Bibles  and 
tracts ;  but  he  would  not  have  had,  on  this  account,  one 
missionary  the  less.  As  the  permanent  foundation  of 
the  Christian  church  in  a  heathen  land,  he  gave  the 
first  place  to  the  diffusion  of  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  but 
as  an  instrument  for  the  actual  ingathering  of  souls,  to 
the  labor  of  the  living  preacher.  His  views  on  this 
point  are  very  clearly  expressed  in  the  following  letter 
to  the  corresponding  secretary,  written  in  1838 :  — 

"  Modern  missions  have  been  distinguished  from  the 
Roman  Catholic,  and  indeed  from  all  former  missions,  since 
apostolic  times,  by  patronizing  and  honoring  the  word  of  God. 
And  I  do  believe  that  those  missions  which  give  the  highest 
place  to  the  divine  word,  will  be  most  owned  of  God,  and 
blessed.  There  is  only  one  book  in  the  world  which  has 
(irs< •ended  from  heaven,  or,  as  I  tell  the  Burmans,  there  is 
only  one  golden  lamp  which  God  has  suspended  from  heaven 
to  guide  us  hither.  Shall  we  missionaries  throw  a  shade 
around  it,  or  do  aught  to  prevent  the  universal  diffusion  of 
its  life-giving  rays  ?  O  that  one  complete  volume  of  the 
Bible,  and  not  merely  the  New  Testament,  —  for  the  word 
of  God,  though  not  such  a  book  as  human  philosophy  and 
logic  would  have  devised,  is  doubtless,  in  the  eye  of  infinite 
Wisdom,  a  perfect  work,  and  just  fitted  to  answer  the  great 
end  which  God  has  in  view, —  O  that  one  copy  of  the  Bur- 
man  Bible  were  safely  deposited  in  every  village  where  the 
language  is  understood !  Burmah  is  now  shut  against  us,  but 
it  will  not  be  so  always ;  and  where  there  is  a  will  there  is  a 


444  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

way.  And  Arracan,  with  her  two  thousand  villages  or  more, 
is  open  for  the  reception  and  deposit  of  two  or  three  thou- 
sand Bibles. 

"  I  would  not  be  understood  to  depreciate  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel,  the  grand  means  instituted  by  Christ  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world.  But  all  our  preaching  must  be 
based  on  the  written  word ;  and  when  the  voice  of  the  living 
preacher  is  passed  away  from  the  village,  the  inspired  vol- 
ume may  still  remain  to  convict  and  to  edify.  I  would  say, 
therefore,  that  the  preached  gospel  and  the  written  word  are 
the  two  arms  which  are  to  pull  down  the  kingdom  of  dark- 
ness, and  build  up  the  Redeemer's.  Let  us  not  cut  off  one 
of  these  arms ;  for  the  other  will,  by  itself,  be  comparatively 
powerless,  as  the  history  of  the  church  in  every  age  will  tes- 
tify." 

2.  Multiplication  of  centres  of  influence,  as  opposed 
to  a  system  of  centralization  in  a  few  large  stations. 
The  operation  of  the  latter  method  —  the  gradual  ray- 
ing out  of  light  from  a  single  point,  or  a  few  points, 
through  the  boundless  regions  of  heathen  darkness,  was 
altogether  too  slow  a  process.  Ere  the  saving  beams 
could  have  crept  to  the  utmost  borders  of  death,  gen- 
erations, he  saw,  would  have  sunk  unilluminated  into 
the  night  that  knows  no  hope  of  day.  He  would  has- 
ten towards  the  perishing  millions  with  the  light  of  life, 
would  kindle  a  beacon  simultaneously  on  every  height,' 
that  all  might  see  and  rejoice  together  in  the  salvation 
of  God.  In  that  eloquent  appeal,  whose  words  burn 
with  the  fire  of  his  own  heart,  addressed  to  the  Board 


MISSIONARY   POLICY.  445 

in  1832,  he  thus  maps  out  the  field  which  he  proposed 
to  them  for  immediate  occupancy :  — 

"  Respected  Fathers  and  Brethren  :  At  our  month- 
ly concert  this  morning,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  a 
joint  letter  should  be  addressed  to  you,  on  the  importance  of 
sending  out  more  missionaries  to  this  part  of  the  heathen 
world.  Being  every  one  of  us  exceedingly  pressed  for  want 
of  time,  we  cannot  stop  to  prepare  an  elaborate  statement, 
but  must  come  at  once  to  the  point  in  hand. 

'•  We  are  in  distress.  We  see  thousands  perishing  around 
us.  We  see  mission  stations  opening  on  every  side,  the  fields 
growing  whiter  every  day,  and  no  laborers  to  reap  the  har- 
vest. If  each  one  of  us  could  divide  himself  into  three 
parts,  happy  would  he  be,  not  only  to  take  leave  of  his  native 
land  and  beloved  connections  at  home,  but  of  still  nearer  and 
more  intimate  connections.  We  want  instantly  to  send  aid 
to  the  Tavoy  station,  where  brother  Mason  is  laboring,  al- 
most alone.  We  want  instantly  to  send  a  missionary  to  Mer- 
gui,  a  pleasant,  healthful  town,  south  of  Tavoy,  where  a 
small  church  has  been  raised  up,  and  left  in  charge  of  a 
native  pastor.  Our  hearts  bleed  when  we  think  of  poor 
Mcrgui  and  the  Karens  in  that  vicinity,  many  of  whom  are 
ready  to  embrace  the  gospel  and  be  saved.  But  how  can  we 
allow  ourselves  to  think  of  that  small  place,  when  the  whole 
kingdom  of  Siam  lies  in  our  rear,  and  the  city  of  Bangkok, 
at  once  a  port  for  ships  and  the  seat  of  imperial  government  ? 
We  want  instantly  to  dispatch  one  of  our  number  to  Bang- 
kok. One  ?  There  ought,  at  this  moment,  to  be  three,  at 
least,  on  their  way  to  that  important  place.  Another  ought 
to  be  on  his  way  to  Yah-heing,  a  large  town  east  of  Maul- 
main,  from  which  there  is  a  fine  river  leading  down  to  Bang- 
kok ;  there  are  many  Karens  at  Yah-heing.  The 'Christian 
religion  is  creeping  that  way,  by  means  of  our  Karen  dis- 


446  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

ciples.  North  of  Yah-heing  and  the  Thoung-yen  River,  the 
boundary  of  the  British  territory  on  that  side,  lies  the  king- 
dom or  principality  of  Zen-mai.  There  have  been  several 
communications  between  the  government  of  Maulmain  and 
Lah-bong,  the  present  capital  of  that  country.  Moung 
Shway-bwen,  one  of  our  disciples,  formerly  with  brother 
Boardman  at  Tavoy,  is  a  nephew  of  the  prince,  or  deputy 
prince,  of  that  country,  and  is  anxious  to  return  thither. 
But  how  can  we  send  him,  a  very  young  man,  without  a  mis- 
sionary ?  If  we  had  a  spare  missionary,  what  a  fine  oppor- 
tunity for  introducing  the  gospel  into  that  central  nation ! 
It  would  open  the  way  to  other  neighboring  nations,  not 
even  mentioned  in  foreign  geographies,  and  even  to  the  bor- 
ders of  China  and  Tartary.  Between  Maulmain  and  Zen- 
mai  are  various  tribes  of  Karens,  Toung-thoos,  Lah-wahs,  &c. 
The  former  are  literally  crying  aloud  for  a  written  language, 
that  they  may  read  in  their  own  tongue  the  wonderful 
works  of  God.  From  the  banks  of  the  Yoon-za-len,  on  the 
northwest,  the  celebrated  prophet  of  the  Karens  has  repeat- 
edly sent  down  messages  and  presents  to  us,  begging  that  we 
would  come  and  instruct  his  people  in  the  Christian  religion. 
But  how  can  we  think  of  supplying  that  quarter,  when  the 
old  kingdom  of  Arracan,  now  under  British  rule,  and  speak- 
ing the  same  language  with  the  Burmese,  is  crying,  in  the 
whole  length  and  breadth  of  her  coast,  for  some  one  to  come 
to  her  rescue  ?  In  that  country  are  one  or  two  hundred  con- 
verts, and  one  country-born  missionary,  from  the  Serampore 
connection,  who  is  laboring  without  any  prospect  of  reinforce- 
ment from  Bengal,  and  desirous  that  one  of  us  should  join 
him.  Kyouk  Phyoo,  lately  established  by  the  English,  is  es- 
teemed a  healthy  place.  The  commandant  is  disposed  to 
welcome  a  missionary,  and  afford  him  every  facility.  Our 
hearts  bleed  when  we  think  of  Kyouk  Phyoo,  and  the  poor 
inquirers  that  one  of  our  number  lately  left  there,  ready  to 


MISSIONARY   POLICY.  447 

embrace  the  Christian  religion,  if  he  would  only  promise  to 
remain  or  send  a  successor.  From  Kyouk  Phyoo,  the  way  is 
open  into  the  four  provinces  of  Arracan,  namely,  llek-keing, 
Chedubah,  Bamree,  and  Sandoway;  and  what  a  grand  field 
for  our  tracts,  and  the  New  Testament,  now  in  press !  Of 
all  the  places  that  now  cry  around  us,  we  think  that  Kyouk 
Phyoo  cries  the  loudest.  No;  we  listen  again,  and  the  shrill 
cry  of  golden  Ava  rises  above  them  all.  O  Aval  Ava !  with 
thy  metropolitan  walls  and  gilded  turrets,  thou  sittest  a  lady 
among  these  qpstern  nations;  but  our  hearts  bleed  for  thee  ! 
In  thee  is  no  Christian  church,  no  missionary  of  the  cross. 

M  O  God  of  mercy,  have  mercy  on  Ava,  and  Chageing,  and 
A-mu-ra-poo-ra.  Have  mercy  on  Pugan  and  Prome,  (poor 
Frame  !)  on  Toung-oo,  on  the  port  of  Bassein,  and  on  all  the 
towns  between  Ava  and  Rangoon.  Have  mercy  on  old  Pegu 
and  the  surrounding  district.  Have  mercy  on  the  four  prov- 
inces of  Arracan.  Have  mercy  on  the  inhabitants  of  the 
banks  of  the  Yoon-za-len,  the  Sal-wen,  the  Thoung-yen,  and 
iic.  Hare  mercy  on  all  the  Karens,  the  Toung-thoos, 
the  Lah-wahs,  and  other  tribes,  whose  names,  though  un- 
known in  Christian  lands,  are  known  to  thee.  Have  mercy 
on  Zen-mai,  on  Lah-bong,  Myeing-yoon-gyee,  and  Yay- 
heing.  Have  mercy  on  Bangkok,  and  the  kingdom  of  Siam, 
and  all  the  other  principalities  that  lie  on  the  north  and  east. 
Have  mercy  on  poor  little  Mergui,  and  Pah-Ian,  and  Yay, 
and  Lah-meing,  and  Nah-zaroo,  and  Amherst,  and  the  Island 
of  Baloo,  with  its  villages  of  Talings  and  Karens."  —  "  Have 
mercy  on  the  churches  in  the  United  States ;  hold  back  the 
curse  of  Meroz ;  continue  and  perpetuate  the  heavenly  re- 
vivals of  religion  which  they  have  begun  to  enjoy ;  and  may 
the  time  soon  come  when  no  church  shall  dare  to  sit  under 
Sabbath  and  sanctuary  privileges,  without  having  one  of  their 
number  to  represent  them  on  heathen  ground.  Have  mercy 
on  the  theological  seminaries,  and  hasten  the  time  when  one 


448  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

half  of  all  who  yearly  enter  the  ministry  shall  be  taken  by 
thine  Holy  Spirit,  and  driven  into  the  wilderness,  feeling  a 
sweet  necessity  laid  on  them,  and  the  precious  love  of  Christ 
and  of  souls  constraining  them.  Hear,  O  Lord,  all  the 
prayers  which  are  this  day  presented  in  all  the  monthly  con- 
certs throughout  the  habitable  globe,  and  hasten  the  millennial 
glory,  for  which  we  are  all  longing,  and  praying,  and  labor- 
ing. Adorn  thy  beloved  one  in  her  bridal  vestments,  that 
she  may  shine  forth  in  immaculate  beauty  and  celestial 
splendor.  Come,  O  our  Bridegroom ;  come4  Lord  Jesus  j 
come  quickly.     Amen  and  Amen." 

For  the  furtherance  of  this  object,  he  urged  the 
division  of  forces  to  the  utmost  possible  extent.  He 
would  have  no  two  men  together  at  a  post,  where  one, 
by  putting  forth  all  his  energies,  could  do  the  essential 
work.  He  even  discouraged  young  missionaries  from 
lingering  at  stations  already  occupied,  under  the  plea 
of  learning  the  language,  and  becoming  familiar  with 
the  routine  of  missionary  service.  He  would  have 
them  go  immediately  into  the  field,  and  learn  to  work 
by  working.  "  Look  at  dear  Boardman ! "  he  says. 
"  Eleven  months  after  landing  at  Amherst,  he  was  in 
Tavoy.  And  what  a  light  he  kindled  up  in  his  short 
life !  "  "  With  the  New  Testament  in  hand,  and  tracts 
and  prayers  all  prepared,  a  young  missionary  can  begin 
to  preach  and  exhort  very  soon.  How  much  better  for 
him  to  dash  into  Toung-oo,  or  some  other  place,  get  the 
language  from  the  living  sounds,  kindle  up  a  bright 


MISSIONARY   POLICY.  449 

light  that  will  never  go  out !  How  much  better  than 
to  be  rusting  here  in  Maulmain !  "  Increasing  by  soat- 
tering,  strengthening  by  dividing,  was,  in  his  view,  the 
great  law  of  missionary  warfare. 

But,  it  might  be  asked,  would  not  the  seeming  ad- 
vantages of  so  great  a  division  of  forces,  be  at  the  ex- 
pense of  their  real  effectiveness  ?  Must  not  this  exten- 
sion  of  the  line  of  attack  occasion  the  weakening  of 
each  separate  part,  and  so  of  the  whole  aggregate? 
Would  not  a  few  stations,  fully  manned,  with  the 
advantages  of  combined  and  systematic  effort  thus 
secured,  accomplish  more  than  ten  times  the  number, 
with  only  one  or  two  laborers  at  each  ?  Dr.  Judson 
held  the  reverse  of  this  to  be  the  fact ;  and  the  longer 
he  observed  the  working  of  the  two  methods,  the  deep- 
er grew  his  conviction  that  he  was  in  the  right.  "  For- 
merly," thus  he  writes  to  the  Board  in  1835,  "having 
spent  many  years  alone,  I  felt  desirous  of  missionary 
society,  and  was  disposed  to  encourage  a  few  to  stay 
together,  not  doubting  that  we  should  all  find  enough 
to  do.  But  I  have  now  learned  that  one  missionary, 
standing  by  himself,  feeling  his  individual  responsi- 
bility, and  forced  to  put  forth  all  his  efforts,  is  worth 
half  a  dozen  cooped  up  in  one  place,  while  there  are 
unoccupied  stations  in  all  directions,  and  whole  dis- 
tricts, of  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands,  perish- 
29 


450  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

_> 

ing  in  the  darkness  of  heathenism."  "  This  is  the  way 
in-which  I  think  missions  ought  to  be  conducted.  One 
missionary,  or  two  at  most,  ought  to  be  stationed  in 
every  important  central  place,  to  collect  a  church  and 
an  interest  around  him ;  to  set  the  native  wheels  at 
work,  and  keep  them  at  work.  Very  few  native  assist- 
ants will  hold  out  well,  unless  well  instructed,  and  kept 
under  rigid  supervision.  An  additional  missionary 
would  doubtless  do  good ;  but  nearly  all  the  good  he 
would  do,  would  probably  be  done  if  he  were  away, 
laboring  in  some  other  place,  which,  but  for  him,  would 
be  unoccupied,  and  where,  of  course,  all  he  should 
effect,  would  be  so  much  net  gain  to  the  cause." 

Though  confined,  for  the  most  part,  at  Maulmain,  by 
his  duties  as  a  translator,  he  was  always  ready  to  as- 
sume extra  duties  there,  in  order  that  his  brethren 
might  be  free  to  reinforce  destitute  stations,  or  to  found 
new  ones.  Nor,  as  we  have  already  seen,  were  his 
affections  limited  to  the  country  of  his  adoption.  He 
pleaded  as  earnestly  for  Assam,  and  Arracan,  and 
Siam,  as  for  Burmah,  and  was  just  as  willing  to  spare 
from  the  missionary  ranks  for  their  benefit.  He  thus 
expresses  his  exultation  at  the  opening  of  the  mission 
in  Assam,  though  it  took  from  Burmah  a  beloved  and 
efficient  laborer. 


MISSIONARY   POLICY.  451 

"  Maulmain,  June  11, 1835. 

"  The  letters  of  Pearce,  Trevelyan,  and  Jenkins,  copies  of 
which  have  been  forwarded  to  you  from  Bengal,  have  opened 
to  us  a  new  missionary  field,  blessed  with  a  very  healthful 
climate,  and  the  protection  of  English  government. 

"  Brother  Brown  embraced  the  proposal  with  instant  en- 
thusiasm, not  merely  because  of  the  above  advantages,  for 
Assam  presents  a  splendid  opening  for  missionary  efforts,  and 
brother  Brown  is  excellently  well  qualified  to  take  the  lead 
in  that  great  and  important  mission.  My  heart  leaps  for  joy, 
and  s\w!Is  with  gratitude  and  praise  to  God,  when  I  think  of 
brother  Jones  at  Bangkok,  in  the  southern  extremity  of  the 
continent,  and  brother  Brown  at  Sadiya,  in  Assam,  on  the 
frontiers  of  China,  immensely  distant  points,  and  of  all  the 
intervening  stations,  Ava,  Rangoon,  Kyouk  Phyoo,  Maul- 
main, and  Tavoy,  and  the  churches  and  schools  which  are 
springing  up  in  every  station,  and  throughout  the  Karen 
wilderness.  Happy  lot  to  live  in  these  days  !  O,  happy  lot 
to  be  allowed  to  bear  a  part  in  the  glorious  work  of  bringing 
an  apostate  world  to  the  feet  of  Jesus  !  Glory,  glory  be  to 
God!" 

3.  Missionaries  for  life,  was  an  idea  to  which  he 
attached  much  importance.  This  point  is  so  fully- 
brought  out  in  the  following  letter,  as  to  make  remarks 
unnecessary. 

To  the  Corresponding  Secretary. 

"Maulmain,  January  12, 1833. 

"  Rev.  and  dear  Sir  :  It  is  with  regret  and  consternation 
that  we  have  just  learned  that  a  new  missionary  has  come  out 
for  a  limited  term  of  years.  I  much  fear  that  this  will  occa- 
sion a  breach  in  our  mission.  How  can  we,  who  are  devoted 
for  life,  cordially  take  to  our  hearts  and  councils  one  who  is 


452  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

a  mere  hireling  ?  On  this  subject  all  my  brethren  and  sisters 
are  united  in  sentiment.  We  should  perhaps  address  a  joint 
letter  to  the  Board  ;  but  such  a  measure  might  not  appear 
sufficiently  respectful.  May  I  earnestly  and  humbly  entreat 
the  Board  to  reconsider  this  matter,  and  not  follow  implicitly 
in  the  wake  of  other  societies,  (I  beg  pardon,)  whether  right 
or  wrong. 

"  I  have  seen  the  beginning,  middle,  and  end  of  several 
limited  term  missionaries.  They  are  all  good  for  nothing. 
Though  brilliant  in  an  English  pulpit,  they  are  incompetent 
to  any  real  missionary  work.  They  come  out  for  a  few  years, 
with  the  view  of  acquiring  a  stock  of  credit  on  which  they 
may  vegetate  the  rest  of  their  days,  in  the  congenial  climate 
of  their  native  land.  Do  not  a  man  and  woman  who  cohabit 
for  a  time,  quarrel  and  part  the  first  opportunity  ?  And  is 
it  not  one  end  of  the  marriage  tie  for  life  to  promote  har- 
mony and  love  ?  Just  so  in  the  case  before  us.  As  to  lessening 
the  trials  of  the  candidate  for  missions,  and  making  the  way 
smooth  before  him,  it  is  just  what  ought  not  to  be  done. 
Missionaries  need  more  trials  on  their  Jirst  setting  out,  instead 
of  less. 

"  The  motto  of  every  missionary,  whether  preacher,  print- 
er, or  schoolmaster,  ought  to  be,  *  Devoted  for  life.'  A  few 
days  ago,  brother  Kincaid  was  asked  by  a  Burmese  officer  of 
government,  how  long  he  intended  to  stay.  '  Until  all  Bur- 
mah  loorships  the  eternal  God,'  was  the  prompt  reply.  If  the 
limited  term  system,  which  begins  to  be  fashionable  in  some 
quarters,  gain  the  ascendency,  it  will  be  the  death  blow  of 
missions,  and  retard  the  conversion  of  the  world  a  hundred 
years. 

"  Excuse  my  freedom  of  speech,  and  believe  me  to  be, 
"  With  all  faithfulness  and  respect, 

"  Your  •  devoted  for  life,' 

"A.  JUDSON." 


MISSIONARY   POLICY.  453 

4.  The  entire  devotion  of  the  missionary  to  his  spe- 
cific work,  the  conversion  of  the  heathen.  He  urged, 
in  furtherance  of  this  object,  a  mode  of  living  tending 
to  separate  missionaries  from  European  society.  "  Be- 
ware," thus  he  writes  to  certain  missionary  candidates 
in  this  country,  "  beware  of  genteel  living.  Maintain 
as  little  intercourse  as  possible  with  European  society. 
The  mode  of  living,  adopted  by  many  missionaries  in 
the  East,  is  quite  inconsistent  with  that  familiar  inter- 
course with  the  natives  which  is  essential  to  a  mission- 
ary." His  own  dwelling  was  always  fixed  in  the  native 
quarter,  at  a  distance  from  the  English  population.  He 
wished  the  natives  to  feel  that  he  was  their  friend, 
their  brother,  who  had  given  himself  wholly  to  them ; 
and  he  knew  that  few  of  them  would  venture  to  seek 
him  among  the  residences  of  their  aristocratic  foreign 
rulers. 

His  intimate  knowledge  of  Burmese  character,  by 
which  he  exercised  so  strong  and  beneficent  an  influ- 
ence on  the  native  mind,  and  bound  the  hearts  of  the 
converts  to  him  as  to  their  spiritual  father,  justified  the 
wisdom  of  his  course,  and  repaid,  a  thousand  fold,  any 
sacrifices  of  personal  ease  and  comfort. 

5.  Tlie  training  of  the  native  churches  into  the  ca- 
pacity of  self-management ;  their  growth  into  such  a 
state  of  Christian  maturity,  that  they  could  perform, 


454  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

unassisted,  all  the  functions  of  the  spiritual  body.  This 
result,  so  essential  to  the  permanence  of  Christian  in- 
stitutions in  the  country,  yet  so  slow  and  difficult  of 
attainment  among  a  people  just  emerged  from  heathen- 
ism, and  moulded  from  birth  into  habits  of  dependence, 
he  sought  with  a  fine  tact,  and  a  patient  perseverance, 
which  show  how  much  his  heart  was  engaged  in  it. 
He  watched  every  sign  of  progress  in  this  respect,  with 
no  less  pleasure  than  the  mother  watches  her  child  as 
it  attempts  to  stand  and  walk,  and  ventures  on  little 
independent  journeys  of  a  yard  or  two,  without  her 
guiding  and  supporting  hand.  As  soon  as  three  or  four 
disciples  can  be  collected  at  one  point,  the  cases  of  new 
candidates  for  baptism  is  always  brought  before  them, 
by  the  relation  of  their  Christian  experience,  and  the 
decision  is  according  to  the  judgment  of  the  body.  In 
his  journals,  while  visiting  the  Karens,  he  more  than 
once  records,  with  the  playful  fondness  and  pride  of  a 
parent's  heart,  the  rejection,  by  the  little  native  church 
of  five  or  six  members,  of  candidates  with  whom  he 
was  himself  very  well  satisfied.  In  such  cases,  he 
would  endeavor  by  some  means  to  bring  the  case  before 
them  for  a  second  hearing,  but  never  overruled  their 
action  by  his  authority.  So  far  as  possible,  the  demo- 
cratic spirit,  which  has  ever  been  one  of  the  grand 
characteristics  of  the  Baptist  churches  at  home,  was 


MISSIONARY   POLICY.  455 

infused  into  these  new  churches,  planted  in  the  ex- 
hausted soil  of  slavery  and  despotism,  as  the  only 
means  of  gradually  training  them  up  into  a  realization 
of  the  noble  ideal  presented  in  the  New  Testament. 

The  development  of  the  various  gifts  in  the  native 
churches,  was  an  object  of  special  solicitude  with  him. 
The  productiveness  of  the  little  church  in  Rangoon,  in 
this  respect,  has  been  already  noticed.  The  same  thing 
appears  in  those  constituted  in  the  second  period  of  the 
mission,  both  among  Burmans  and  Karens.  Of  course, 
all  the  gifts  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ,  are 
to  be  ascribed  to  a  divine  source;  nor,  wanting  this 
higher  influence,  can  any  amount  of  training  and  cul- 
ture supply  the  church  with  true  laborers.  But  it  is 
no  less  true,  that  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit  are  germs  to  be 
nurtured ;  and,  as  a  general  thing,  only  those  which  are 
nurtured  come  to  maturity.  Had  Judson  and  his  early 
associates  repressed,  or  even  neglected,  the  native  ele- 
ments of  usefulness,  can  it  be  supposed  that  the  result 
would  have  been  what  we  now  find  it?  He  would 
have  felt,  that  to  do  this,  was  to  build  the  church  in 
Burmali  on  the  sand.  Foreign  hands  must  indeed  do 
the  preparatory  work,  must  start  into  motion  the  agen- 
cies necessary  for  the  regeneration  of  the  country. 
But,  for  the  completion  and  perpetuity  of  the  work,  the 
reliance  must  be  upon  the  native  churches,  and  espec- 


456  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

ially  the  native  ministry.  To  call  out,  and  to  cherish 
by  instruction,  by  pious  influence,  and  by  suitable  exer- 
cise, every  talent  for  Christian  usefulness,  was,  there- 
fore, an  object  second  to  none  in  his  esteem.  Might 
not  some  of  the  methods  by  which  this  object  was 
sought,  as  exhibited  in  the  following  extracts,  if  applied 
in  our  own  Christian  land,  do  much  to  resolve  the  ques- 
tion, so  often  and  so  anxiously  asked :  "  How  is  the 
spirit  of  the  ministry  to  be  revived  in  our  churches?" 
Writing  from  Rangoon  in  1831,  be  says  :  "  Moung  En 
is  settled  with  me ;  his  department  is  to  receive  com- 
pany (i.  e.  inquirers)  at  the  house."  "  Moung  Sanlone 
is  becoming  a  valuable  assistant.  It  is  his  business 
to  go  about  the  place,  distribute  tracts,  and  con- 
verse whenever  he  can  get  opportunity  ;  and  he  some- 
times makes  short  excursions  into  the  neighboring  vil- 
lages." "  I  have  sent  Moung  Shway-doke  with  three 
thousand  tracts  up  the  Laing  River,  which  breaks  off 
from  the  Rangoon  outlet  a  little  above  Rangoon,  and 
joins  the  great  River  Tingdau,  below  Prome.  It  passes 
through  a  populous  part  of  the  country,  where  the 
word  of  life  has  never  yet  been  published.  Moung 
Sanlone  has  left  me  this  morning  with  twenty-five  hun- 
dred tracts,  to  visit  the  neighborhood  of  old  Pegu,  on 
the  east ;  and  Moung  Shway-too  will  shortly  leave  with 
three  thousand,  for  the  large  towns  of  Pan-ta-nau  and 


MISSIONARY   POLICY.  457 

Bassein,  on  the  west."     And  what  a  picture  is  this,  of 
his  arrangements  for  a  missionary  tour  into  the  jungle  : 

"  In  view  of  my  leaving  Maulmain,  on  a  second  tour  among 
the  Karens,  I  have  appointed  the  two  deacons,  Ko  Dwah  and 
Ko  Shway-ba,  to  conduct  the  daily  evening  worship,  and  the 
public  worship  on  Lord's  day.  The  former  acts  also  as  teach- 
er to  Mrs.  Bennett,  and  the  latter  is  employed  in  copying 
translations.  Ko  Man-boke,  the  other  deacon,  and  his  wife, 
I  send  to  the  aid  of  brother  and  sister  Wade  at  Mergui,  where 
Pastor  Ing  also  is  stationed.  Moung  Sanlone  and  Moung 
Shway-moung,  I  send  to  itinerate  in  the  direction  of  Yay  ; 
and  Moung  Poo,  from  the  school,  and  Moung  Zah,  to  itine- 
rate between  this  and  Amherst,  chiefly  in  the  vicinity  of 
Pah-ouk.  Ko  Shan  and  family  I  send  to  reside  at  Tara-nah, 
a  populous  Taling  village,  on  thaGyne,  a  few  miles  above 
Maulmain,  where  he  has  a  son  settled.  Moung  En  ex- 
pects soon  to  revisit  Rangoon.  Moung  Dway  has  gone  to 
Bengal  with  brother  Bennett.  The  three  Karen  families 
who  have  been  in  the  adult  school,  and  Moung  Doot,  who  is 
now  here  on  a  visit  from  his  station  at  Wadesville,  I  shall 
take  with  me,  together  with  Ko  Myat-kyau,  who  speaks  the 
Karen  well,  Moung  Zuthee,  Moung  Tau-ma-gnay,  Moung 
Tsan-lone,  the  schoolmaster,  and  Moung  Ouk-moo,  just  from 
school,  'all  good  men  and  true.'" 

In  1835,  he  writes  from  Maulmain :  — 

"  I  have  now  five  native  assistants,  who  spend  an  hour  with 
me,  every  morning,  in  reporting  the  labors  of  the  preceding 
day,  in  receiving  instructions,  and  in  praying  together. 
These  men  penetrate  every  lane  and  corner  of  this  place 
and  the  neighboring  villages ;  and  since  I  have  adopted  this 
plan,  —  about  four  months,  —  there  are  some  very  encourag- 


458  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

ing  appearances.  As  soon  as  I  get  through  with  the  Old 
Testament  complete,  I  want  to  double  their  number,  and  de- 
vote part  of  my  time  to  instructing  them  systematically. 
Now,  ten  such  persons,  half  students,  half  assistants,  cost  no 
more  than  one  missionary  family  ;  and  for  actual  service  they 
are  certainly  worth  a  great  deal  more." 

To  such  training,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  is  to  be 
ascribed  the  wonderful  development  of  the  missionary 
and  ministerial  spirit  in  the  native  churches ;  and  to 
this,  in  turn,  the  rapifl  spread  of  the  gospel  among  the 
various  races  embraced  in  the  operations  of  the  mis- 
sion.    Of  this,  many  interesting  proofs  might  be  given ; 

but  for  want  of  space,  a  single  example  must  suffice. 
• 
"In  April,  1833,  Ko  Thah-byoo,  the  missionary  pioneer 
among  the  Karens  at  Tavoy  and  this  place,  was  sent  to  Mau- 
bee,  a  Karen  district  north  of-Rangoon,  and  in  the  course  of 
the  year  reported  about  thirty  hopeful  inquirers,  five  of  whom 
received  baptism  at  the  hands  of  Ko  Thah-a,  pastor  of  the 
church  in  Rangoon.  At  the  close  of  the  year,  we  sent  Tau- 
nah,  Pan-lah,  and  two  younger  assistants  to  the  aid  of  Ko 
Thah-byoo.  They  returned,  after  a  stay  of  about  three 
months,  and  gave  a  still  more  encouraging  account  of  the 
state  of  religious  inquiry  in  that  quarter.  Soon  afterwards, 
we  dispatched  Pan-lah  and  three  younger  assistants.  Tau- 
nah  was  obliged  to  remain  with  Miss  Cummings,  in  charge 
of  the  Chummerah  station.  Pan-lah  and  his  company  spread 
themselves  over  the  district  of  Mau-bee,  and  each  one  acted 
as  schoolmaster  and  preacher  in  his  own  circle,  for  the  space 
of  seven  or  eight  months.  On  their  return,  they  reported 
several  hundred  hopeful  inquirers,  out  of  whom  two  hundred 


MISSIONARY   POLICY.  459 

and  ten  had  made  the  three  several  applications  for  bap- 
tism, being  examined  and  approved  by  Pan-lah  and  com- 
pany, in  council  with  the  previously  baptized;  but  were 
obliged  to  wait  for  want  of  an  administrator  of  the  ordi- 
nance." 

6.  In  regard  to  schools,  as  a  branch  of  missionary 
agency,  Dr.  Judson's  mind  seems  to  have  been  longer 
in  reaching  definite  conclusions,  than  in  respect  to  some 
other  points.  It  is  clear,  I  think,  that,  from  the  begin- 
ning to  the  close  of  his  missionary  life,  he  highly  ap- 
proved of  schools  when  they  could  be  made  the  medium 
of  direct  religious  instruction,  and  were  held  in  strict 
subserviency  to  the  higher  agencies  of  the  missionary 
work.  The  care  of  schools  he  regarded  as  a  depart- 
ment of  labor  peculiarly  appropriate  to  female  mis- 
sionaries. But  be  did  not  believe,  that  to  educate  a 
people  in  secular  knowledge  was  to  christianize  it,  or 
that  the  process  had  any  tendency,  direct  or  indirect,  to 
this  result.  To  convert  a  mission  among  the  heathen 
into  an  educational  establishment,  whose  objects  should 
take  precedence  of  direct  efforts  for  the  conversion  of 
souls,  and  the  gathering  of  churches,  would  have  been, 
in  his  view,  an  utter  subversion  of  its  true  ends.  He 
was  particularly  opposed  to  the  attempt  to  Anglicise 
the  native  mind,  by  schools  in  which  the  vernacular 
should  be  superseded  by  English^  as  not  only  a  waste 
of  time  and  money,  but  in  every  way  injurious  in  its 


460  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

influence.  The  education  of  the  English  country-born 
population,  he  regarded  as  not  belonging  to  the  sphere 
of  missions  to  the  heathen  ;  and  that  much  expenditure 
of  time  and  labor  in  this  direction  was,  therefore,  incon- 
sistent with  fidelity  to  the  missionary's  true  calling. 
The  following  letter,  written  in  1849,  exhibits  his  ma- 
turest  views  on  several  of  the  above  points,  and  the 
grounds  of  his  aversion  to  making  school-teaching  the 
business  of  one  who  professed,  or  who  could  acquire, 
the  ability  to  preach  the  gospel.  There  is  no  indication 
that  he  did  not  continue  to  give  his  cordial  approbation 
to  missionary  schools,  which  were  truly  such,  and  were 
conducted  by  those  to  whom  the  labor  properly  be- 
longed. 

¥  To  the  Corresponding  Secretary. 

"  Maulmain,  March  16,  1849. 

"  Dear   Brother  :  When  I  spoke  of  brother *s 

school,  in  my  letter  to  you  of  the  22d  November,  1847,  as 
one  of  our  most  effective  engines  lor  the  renovation  of  these 
provinces,  I  had  not  become  aware  of  the  great  change  which 
the  school  had  gradually  undergone. 

.  .  .  "The  propriety  of  bestowing  much  missionary 
labor  and  expense  upon  country-born  children,  is  very  ques- 
tionable, that  class  of  the  population  being  found  throughout 
India  to  have  less  influence  on  the  population  at  large  than 
any  other.  Their  influence,  for  obvious  reasons,  is  generally 
confined  to  themselves.  The  propriety  of  teaching  English 
to  the  natives,  to  the  exclusion  and  depreciation  of  their  own 
vernacular,  is  still  more  questionable. 


MISSIONARY   POLICY.  461 

.  .  "Iain  more  and  more  convinced  of  the  truth  of  a 
remark  which  I  made  some  years  ago,  that  English  preach- 
ing,  English  teaching,  and  English  periodicals,  are  the  bane 
of  missions  at  the  East.  There  are  several  missionaries  — 
more,  it  is  true,  from  Great  Britain  than  from  America — who 
never  acquire  the  languages,  except  a  mere  smattering  of 
them,  of  the  countries  to  which  they  are  sent,  but  beguile 
their  time  and  expend  their  labors  among  their  own  country- 
men and  the' country-born  population,  under  the  fallacious 
idea  that  through  them  the  Christian  religion  will  gradually 
reach  the  masses  of  the  native  population.  There  are,  how- 
ever, some  symptoms  of  an  approaching  change  in  public 
sentiment  throughout  the  East,  in  regard  to  the  mode  of  con- 
ducting missionary  operations.  It  begins  to  be  found  that 
popular  English  schools,  containing  hundreds  of  pupils,  and 
instructed  by  great  and  powerful  men,  —  but  men  ignorant 
of  all  native  languages,  —  will  never  convert  the  millions  of 
the  heathen.  •  Such  schools,'  as  the  senior  missionary  of  the 
Kislmagur  mission  lately  observed  to  me,  on  visiting  this 
place,  •  are  very  pretty  things  to  amuse  English  visitors  with, 
and  make  interesting  reports  for  people  at  a  distance,  who 
cannot  enter  into  fche  merits  of  the  case.' 

u  Still,  some  good  results  from  every  good  effort,  though  not 
the  most  judiciously  directed ;  and  I  have  always  endeavored 
to  keep  myself  free  from  strong  party  feelings.  Live  and  let 
live,  is  not  a  bad  motto,  nor  should  I  have  written,  a  word  of 
the  above,  had  I  not  felt  for  some  time  past  that  I  had  com- 
mitted myself  too  far  in  what  I  had  said  about  one  of  the 
mission  schools,  and  made  myself  somewhat  responsible  for 
what  I  cannot  regard  as  the  most  judicious  expenditure  of 
labor  and  funds.  Yours,  faithfully,  A.  Judson. 

Schools  for  the  instruction  of  the  native  ministry,  he 
considered  an  indispensable  branch  of  the  missionary 


462 


THE    EARNEST   MAN. 


system.  But  he  had  no  thought  of  modelling  these  in- 
stitutions, for  young  men  wanting  the  first  rudiments  of 
knowledge,  after  those  demanded  by  the  necessities  of 
European  or  American  civilization.  Their  aim  should 
simply  be,  to  fit  these  native  youths  for  the  work  they 
were  called  to  do.  The  admirable  good  sense  and 
right  feeling  of  the  following  letter,  will  commend 
themselves  to  every  intelligent  reader. 

"  To  the  Corresponding  Secretary. 

"  Maulmain,  January  3,  1835. 

.  .  .  "  My  ideas  of  a  seminary  are  very  different  from 
those  of  many  persons.  I  am  really  unwilling  to  place  young 
men,  that  have  just  begun  to  love  the  Saviour,  under  teachers 
who  will  strive  to  carry  them  through  a  long  course  of  study, 
until  they  are  able  to  unrafel  metaphysics,  and  calculate 
eclipses,  and  their  souls  become  as  dry  as  the  one  and  as  dark 
as  the  other.  I  have  known  several  promising  young  men 
completely  ruined  by  this  process.  Nor  is  it  called  for  in  the 
present  state  of  the  church  in  Burmah.  I  want  to  see  our 
young  disciples  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  Bible,  from 
beginning  to  end,  and  with  geography  and  history,  so  far  as 
necessary  to  understand  the  Scriptures,  and  to  furnish  them 
with  enlarged,  enlightened  minds.  I  would  also  have  them 
carried  through  a  course  of  systematic  theology,  on  the  plan, 
perhaps,  of  Dwight's.  And  I  would  have  them  well  in- 
structed in  the  art  of  communicating  their  ideas  intelligibly 
and  acceptably  by  word  and  by  ivriting.  So  great  is  my  de- 
sire to  see  such  a  system  in  operation,  that  I  am  strongly 
tempted,  as  nobody  else  is  able  to  do  any  thing  just  now,  to 
make  a  beginning ;  and  perhaps  after  brother  Wade,  who  is 


MISSIONARY   POLICY.  463 

excellently  well  capacitated  for  this  department,  has  settled 
the  Karen  language  with  brother  Mason,  he  will  carry  on 
what  I  shall  begin,  having  both  Karen  and  Burmese  students 
und»r  his  care.     .    .     . 

"  Yours,  faithfully,  A.  Judson." 

One  characteristic  trait  of  Dr.  Judson  should  not  be. 
omitted,  in  this  statement  of  his  views.  He  held  his 
opinions  strongly,  and  on  all  proper  occasions,  pressed 
them  earnestly  on  the  attention  of  the  Board.  But 
this  being  done,  he  submitted  the  result  implicitly  to 
their  decision.  As  a  veteran  in  the  field,  practically 
familiar  with  the  whole  routine  of  service,  he,  if  any 
one,  might  have  claimed  exemption  from  control  by  a 
body  of  men  located  on  the  other  side  of  the  world. 
But  so  far  from  betraying  any  restiveness  under  the 
restraint,  he  uniformly  sustained  the  authority  of  the 
Board,  by  the  respectful  deference  of  his  suggestions, 
and  by  his  cheerful  compliance  with  their  instructions. 
These  sometimes  clashed  very  much  with  his  own 
wishes,  as  when  he  was  required  to  yield  his  desire  of 
giving  himself  to  preachjng,  to  their  conviction  that  he 
ought  to  prepare  a  dictionary.  He  remonstrated  in- 
deed, most  earnestly  ;  but  their  deliberate  decision  is  to 
be  his  law.  "I  must  not  do  it,"  he  writes  to  the  cor- 
responding* secretary  ;  "  I  cannot  do  it,  unless  the  Board 
expressly  order  it ;  and  then  I  will  obey,  believing  that 
vox  senatus  vox  Dei."     On  another  occasion,  he  thus 


464  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

expresses  himself:  "  But  whatever  disposition  of  men 
the  Board  be  pleased  to  make,  or  whatever  other  orders 
to  issue,  I  beg  that  nothing  discretionary  be  left  with 
us,  at  least  so  far  as  I  am  concerned.  We  shall  all 
obey  orders  from  home  ;  but  if  left  to  ourselves,  I  fear, 
from  past  experience,  that  we  shall  sometimes  manage 
to  help  each  other  to  do  that  which  is  most  pleasing  in 
our  own  eyes."  As  there  must  be  a  directing  power 
somewhere,  he  thought  it  most  safely  lodged  in  the  hands 
of  those  whom  the  churches  had  chosen  for  this  trust 
and  who  are  directly  accountable  to  them.  During  his 
long  missionary  life,  he  never,  in  any  instance,  dis- 
obeyed the  instructions  of  the  Board,  nor  ever  sought 
to  control  their  action,  or  lessen  their  influence,  by  ap- 
peals from  their  decisions  to  the  public. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

VISIT   TO    AMERICA.      LABORS    ON   HIS   RETURN. 

From  the  year  1832,  when  Dr.  Judson  fixed  his 
residence  permanently  in  Maulmain,  for  the  purpose  of 
completing  the  Burman  Bible,  no  marked  event  oc- 
curred in  his  public  life  for  many  years.  Even  during 
this  period,  however,  he  was  not  a  mere  student.  Most 
of  the  time,  he  was  pastor  of  the  native  church  in 
Maulmain,  which  increased  under  his  care  to  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  members.  Mrs.  Judson  writes,  in 
1835 :  "  Mr.  Judson  preaches  every  Lord's  day  to  a 
crowded  assembly,  and  every  evening  to  a  congregation 

averaging  thirty The  native  assistants  go 

about  the  town  every  day,  preaching  the  gospel ;  and 
Mr.  Judson  holds  a  meeting  with  them  every  morning 
before  breakfast,  when  he  prays  with  them,  listens  to 
their  reports,  gives  them  instruction,"  &c.  In  1837, 
he  gives  the  following  account  of  his  daily  round  of 
occupation.  "  My  days  are  commonly  spent  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner :  the  morning  in  reading  Burman  j  the 
30 


466  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

forenoon  in  a  public  zayat,  with  some  assistant,  preach- 
ing to  those  who  call ;  the  afternoon  in  preparing-  or 
revising  something  for  the  press,  correcting  proof- 
sheets,  &c. ;  the  evening  in  conducting  worship  in  the 
native  chapel,  and  conversing  with  the  assistants,  and 
other  native  Christians  or  inquirers."  But,  not  long 
after  this  date,  the  affection  of  the  throat  and  lungs 
mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter,  deprived  him  of  the 
use  of  his  voice ;  and  from  that  time,  he  was  only  able 
to  preach  at  intervals. 

In  1845,  Mrs.  Judson's  health,  already  enfeebled  by 
repeated  attacks  of  the  diseases  incident  to  the  climate, 
failed  altogether.  After  trying,  in  vain,  short  excur- 
sions at  sea,  and  exhausting  all  the  resources  of  medi- 
cal skill,  Mr.  Judson  was  forced  to  the  conclusion  that 
a  long  voyage,  and  a  residence  for  a  year  or  two  in  a 
colder  climate,  could  alone  save  her  life.  Her  debility 
rendering  it  necessary  for  him  to  accompany  her,  they 
took  passage,  with  three  of  their  six  surviving  children, 
in  a  ship  bound  for  England,  intending  to  proceed 
thence,  without  delay,  to  the  United  States.  As  he 
could  not  turn  his  visit  to  account  for  the  mission,  by 
preaching,  he  took  with  him  two  Burman  assistants, 
with  a  view  to  prosecuting  his  labors  on  the  Diction- 
ary. On  their  arrival  at  Port  Louis  in  the  Isle  of 
France,  Mrs.  Judson's  health  was  so  greatly  improved, 


VISIT   TO    AMERICA.  467 

that  both  she  and  her  husband  deemed  it  safe  for  her 
to  proceed  the  rest  of  the  way  without  him.  Dr.  Jud- 
son  therefore  sent  back  his  assistants  in  a  vessel  which 
he  found  ready  to  sail  for  Maulmain,  and  partly  en- 
gaged his  own  passage  in  another,  which  was  to  leave 
two  weeks  later.  They  were  encouraged  in  this  plan, 
by  the  offer  of  accommodations  for  the  family,  in  a 
ship  bound  directly  for  the  United  States,  —  an  ar- 
rangement which  promised  a  speedier  voyage  and  a 
great  saving  of  trouble  and  anxiety  to  Mrs.  Judson. 
But  before  the  expiration  of  their  stay  at  Port  Louis, 
a  relapse  came  on,  which  reduced  her  lower  than  ever 
before,  and  at  once  reversed  their  plans.  Mr.  Judson 
now  felt  that  it  was  impossible  to  leave  her  ;  and  near 
the  end  of  July,  they  reembarked  for  this  country. 
For  a  while,  she  seemed  to  rally  again,  and  his  hopes 
revived.  But  the  improvement  was  only  temporary, 
and  she  gradually  declined  till  they  reached  the  port 
of  St.  Helena,  where  she  «xpired,  on  shipboard,  a  few 
days  after  their  arrival.  The  following  touching  ac- 
count of  the  closing  scenes,  and  of  the  incidents  of  the 
funeral,  is  extracted  from  a  short  obituary  sketch  by 
Dr.  Judson. 

"  On  our  passage  homeward,  as  the  strength  of  Mrs.  Jud- 
son gradually  declined,  I  expected  to  be  under  the  painful 
necessity  of  burying  her  in  the  sea.     But  it  was  so  ordered 


468  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

by  divine  Providence,  that,  when  the  indications  of  approach- 
ing death  had  become  strongly  marked,  the  ship  came  to  an- 
chor in  the  port  of  St.  Helena.  For  three  days  she  continued 
to  sink  rapidly,  though  her  bodily  sufferings  were  not  very 
severe.  Her  mind  became  liable  to  wander ;.  but  a  single 
word  was  sufficient  to  recall  and  steady  her  recollection.  On 
the  evening  of  the  31st  of  August,  she  appeared  to  be  draw- 
ing near  to  the  end  of  her  pilgrimage.  The  children  took 
leave  of  her,  and  retired  to  rest.  I  sat  alone  by  the  side  of 
her  bed  during  the  hours  of  the  night,  endeavoring  to  admin- 
ister relief  to  the  distressed  body,  and  consolation  to  the 
departing  soul.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  wishing  to 
obtain  one  more  token  of  recognition,  I  roused  her  attention, 
and  said,  '  Do  you  still  love  the  Saviour  ? '  'O  yes,'  she  re- 
plied, '  I  ever  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ/  I  said  again,  '  Do 
you  still  love  me  ? '  She  replied  in  the  affirmative,  by  a 
peculiar  expression  of  her  own.  '  Then  give  me  one  more 
kiss ; '  and  we  exchanged  that  token  of  love  for  the  last 
time.  Another  hour  passed,  life  continued  to  recede,  and 
she  ceased  to  breathe.  For*a  moment  I  traced  her  upward 
flight,  and  thought  of  the  wonders  which  were  opening  to 
her  view.  I  then  closed  her  sightless  eyes,  dressed  her,  for 
the  last  time,  in  the  drapery  of  death ;  and,  being  quite  ex- 
hausted with  many  sleepless  njghts,  I  threw  myself  down  and 
slept.  On  awaking  in  the  morning,  I  saw  the  children  stand- 
ing and  weeping  around  the  body  of  their  dear  mother,  then, 
for  the  first  time,  inattentive  to  their  cries.  In  the  course  of 
the  day  a  coffin  was  procured  from  the  shore,  in  which  I 
placed  all  that  remained  of  her  whom  I  had  so  much  loved ; 
and  after  a  prayer  had  been  offered  by  a  dear  brother  min- 
ister from  the  town,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bertram,  we  proceeded  in 
boats  to  the  shore.  There  we  were  met  by  the  colonial 
chaplain,  and  accompanied  to  the  burial-ground  by  the  ad- 
herents and  friends  of  Mr.  Bertram,  and  a  large  concourse 


VISIT    TO   AMERICA.  469 

of  the  inhabitants.  They  had  prepared  the  grave  in  a  beau- 
tiful, shady  spot,"  contiguous  to  the  grave  of  Mrs.  Chater,  a 
missionary  from  Ceylon,  who  had  died  in  similar  circum- 
stances on  her  passage  home.  There  I  saw  her  safely  depos- 
ited; and,  in  the  language  of  prayer  which  we  had  often 
presented  together  at  the  throne  of  grace,  I  blessed  God  that 
her  body  had  attained  the  repose  of  the  grave,  and  her  spirit 
the  repose  of  paradise.  After  the  funeral,  the  dear  friends 
of  Mr.  Bertram  took  me  to  their  houses  and  their  hearts ; 
and  their  conversation  and  prayers  afforded  me  unexpected 
relief  and  consolation.  But  I  was  obliged  to  hasten  on  board 
ship,  and  we  immediately  went  to  sea.  On  the  following 
morning,  no  vestige  of  the  island  was  discernible  in  the  dis- 
tant horizon.  For  a  few  days,  in  the  solitude  of  my  cabin, 
with  my  poor  children  crying  around  me,  I  could  not  help 
abandoning  myself  to  heart-breaking  sorrow.  But  the  prom- 
ises of  the  gospel  came  to  my  aid,  and  faith  stretched  her 
view  to  the  bright  world  of  eternal  life,  and  anticipated  a 
happy  meeting  with  those  beloved  beings  whose  bodies  are 
mouldering  at  Amherst  and  St.  Helena. 

"  I  exceedingly  regret  that  there  is  no  portrait  of  the 
seroml,  as  of  the  first  Mrs.  Judson.  Her  soft  blue  eye,  her 
mild  aspect,  her  lovely  face,  and  elegant  form,  have  never 
been  delineated  on  canvas.  They  must  soon  pass  away  from 
the  memory  even  of  her  children,  but  they  will  remain  for- 
ever enshrined  in  her  husband's  heart. 

"  To  my  friends  at  St.  Helena  I  am  under  great  obligation. 
I  desire  to  thank  God  for  having  raised  up  in  that  place  a 
most  precious  religious  interest.  The  friends  of  the  Redeemer 
rallied  around  an  evangelical  minister,  immediately  on  his 
arrival,  and  within  a  few  months  several  souls  were  added  to 
their  number.  Those  dear,  sympathizing,  Christian  friends 
received  the  body  of  the  deceased  from  my  hands  as  a  sacred 
deposit,  united  with  our  kind  captain,  John  Codman,  Jr.,  of 


470  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

Dorchester,  in  defraying  all  the  expenses  of  the  funeral,  and 
promised  to  take  care  of  the  grave,  and  see  to  the  erection 
of  the  gravestones,  which  I  am  to  forward,  and  on  which  I 
propose  to  place  the  following  inscription :  — 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Sarah  B.  Judson,  member  of 
the  American  Baptist  Mission  to  Burmah,  formerly  wife  of 
the  Rev.  George  D.  Board  man,  of  Tavoy,  and  lately  wife  of 
the  Rev.  Adoniram  Judson,  of  Maulmain,  who  died  in  this 
port,  September  1,  1845,  on  her  passage  to  the  United  States, 
in  the  forty-second  year  of  her  age,  and  in  the  twenty-first 
of  her  missionary  life. 

"  She  sleeps  sweetly  here,  on  this  rock  of  the  ocean, 
Away  from  the  home  of  her  youth, 
And  far  from  the  land  where,  with  heartfelt  devotion, 
She  scattered  the  bright  beams  of  truth." 

Dr.  Judson,  with  his  motherless  children,  arrived  in 
Boston  about  the  middle,  of  October,  feeble  in  health 
and  sick  at  heart ;  anxious  only  to  be  allowed  to  re- 
turn, if  possible,  before  the  setting  in  of  winter,  to  the 
scene  of  his  labors.  But  he  was  not  able  to  realize 
this  desire  ;  nor  that  of  occupying,  as  he  had  previous- 
ly requested,  some  retired  corner  where  he  could  work 
at  his  dictionary,  "  undisturbed  and  unknown  !  "  The 
disease  of  his  throat,  which  precluded  public  speaking, 
and  for  several  months  scarcely  allowed  him  to  raise 
his  voice  above  a  whisper,  increased  his  natural  shrink- 
ing from  public  display.  But  the  tide  of  popular  feel- 
ing was  too  strong  to  be  repressed.  For  more  than 
thirty  years,  liis  name  had  been  "a  household  word" 


VISIT    TO   AMERICA.  471 

among  the  friends  of  missions.  A  whole  generation 
had  grown  up,  familiar  with  the  story  of  his  labors  and 
sufferings,  not  one  of  whom  had  ever  seen  his  face. 
To  them  he  was  a  sort  of  Christian  Paladin,  who  had 
experienced  wonderful  fortunes,  and  achieved  wonder- 
ful exploits  of  philanthropy,  in  that  far  off,  almost 
mythical  land  of  heathenism.  To  the  body  of  older 
and  maturer  Christians  his  presence  spoke  with  a 
deeper,  but  not  less  exciting  power.  The  feeling  was 
of  course  peculiarly  strong  in  his  own  denomination. 
Hundreds  among  them  yet  lived,  who  remembered 
when  word  was  first  brought  that  God,  without  waiting 
for  our  slow  movements,  had  himself  planted  an  Amer- 
ican Baptist  Mission  in  Asia ;  and  who  recalled,  with 
a  thrill  of  grateful  joy,  those  early  efforts,  the  direct 
fruits  of  Judson's  conscientious  sacrifice  to  duty,  in 
which  they  had  themselves  participated.  They  saw 
the  entire  missionary  history  of  Baptists  starting  from 
this  one  point,  and  growing  into  a  mighty  stream  of 
blessing  to  our  own  churches,  and  its  whole  course 
marked  by  memorials  of  his  influence  and  labors.  To 
be  within  reach  of  this  man,  and  not  be  eager  to  see 
him,  to  hear  his  voice,  to  grasp  his  hand,  would  have 
argued  insensibility  to  the  most  sacred  obligations,  and 
indifference  to  the  cause  to  which  he  was  devoted. 
But  the  feeling  was  not  confined  to  Baptists.     Thou- 


472  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

sands,  ranged  under  a  different  standard  in  the  king- 
dom of  Christ,  welcomed  him  with  the  catholic  fellow- 
ship of  Christian  love,  as  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
American  Christianity  in  heathendom,  whose  labors 
the  God  of  missions  had  honored  with  signal  tokens  of 
approbation.  So  general  a  feeling  of  enthusiasm  to- 
wards an  individual,  simply  on  the  ground  that  he  was 
a  good  man,  had  never  before  been  awakened  in  this 
country ;  and  however  annoying  was  the  publicity,  to  a 
man  of  his  retiring  and  almost  morbid  modesty,  it  can- 
not but  be  regarded  with  respect  and  pleasure,  as  a 
gratifying  index  of  the  moral  feeling  of  the  commu- 
nity. 

The  public  meetings  called  to  welcome  him,  in  sev- 
eral of  our  cities,  those  connected  with  the  benevolent 
societies,  or  in  connection  with  the  anniversaries,  and, 
with  his  visits  to  various  seminaries  of  learning,  often 
presented  scenes  of  intense  interest.  One  incident  *  of 
the  first  meeting  in  Boston,  two  days  after  his  arrival, 
is  too  beautiful  to  be  passed  over  :  — 

"  While  Mr.  Hague  was  speaking,  a  gentleman  was  mak- 
ing his  way  from  the  further  part  of  the  house  towards  the 
pulpit.  He  was  welcomed  there  with  surprise  and  delight, 
and  was  immediately  introduced  to  the  congregation  by  Dr. 
Sharp,  as  the  Rev.  Samuel  Nott,  the  only  survivor,  except- 

*  Belated  in  the  report  of  the  meeting,  for  the  Christian  Watch- 
man and  Reflector. 


VISIT    TO    AMERICA.  473 

ing  I  h.  Judson,  of  the  five  missionaries  who  first  went  out  to 
India  from  America,  and  the  very  man,  who,  when  Judson 
became  a  Baptist,  stood  up  and  shielded  him  with  the  mantle 
of  Christian  love.  4  For  this,'  said  Dr.  Sharp,  '  I  have  always 
respected  him,  and  I  am  sure  you  will  be  glad  to  hear  him.' 

u  It  is  hardly  possible  for  us  to  describe  the  scene  which 
followed.  For  thirty-three  years  Nott  and  Judson  had  been 
separated.  They  met  at  this  moment  for  the  first  time  since 
that  separation  ;  and  as  they  now  embraced  each  other  with 
deep  affection  and  grateful  joy,  tears  started  from  many  an 
eye.  Mr.  Nott  proceeded  to  speak  with  much  emotion. 
More  than  thirty  years  ago  he  gave  his  brother  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship ;  and  when  he  became  a  Baptist  it  was 
not  withdrawn.  One  reflection  most  solemnly  impressed 
him  —  of  the  five  who  went  out  to  India,  three  are  dead. 
The  grass  withereth,  the  flower  fadeth,  but  the  word  of  our 
God  shall  stand  forever.  In  a  little  while  they  would  all  be 
gone,  and  every  agency  now  employed  pass  away ;  but  God's 
word  will  stand  fast,  and  prevail  over  all  the  earth.  Mr.  Nott 
referred  to  the  small  beginning  of  the  American  Board,  as 
well  as  the  Baptist,  their  trust  in  Gfd,  and  the  present  great 
and  glorious  work  which  is  exhibited  to  us  in  contrast.  The 
missionary  movement  in  this  country  originated  simultaneous- 
ly in  different  hearts ;  the  spirit  of  the  Most  High,  and  not 
human  influence,  gave  it  birth.  He  deemed  it  a  very  trifling 
question  whether  Adoniram  Judson  or  Samuel  J.  Mills  was 
the  originator  of  foreign  missions.  Samuel  Nott,  Jr.,  cer- 
tainly was  not.  They  were  all  mere  boys,  but  with  God's 
blessing  on  their  puerile  efforts,  they  had  begun  an  influence 
which  is  spreading  over  the  world. 

"  It  was  now  discovered  that  Mr.  Bingham,  a  pioneer  mis- 
sionary to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  was  unexpectedly  present; 
and  another  thrill  of  pleasure  went  through  the  congregation 
as  his  name  was  also  announced  by  Dr.  Sharp.   He  addressed 


474  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

the  assembly,  congratulating  his  missionary  brethren,  refer- 
ring to  his  own  early  toils  and  to  the  great  success  of  the 
Sandwich  Island  mission,  and  exhorting  the  people  gener- 
ously to  sustain  the  glorious  cause  of  missions." 

On  most  of  these  occasions,  Dr.  Judson,  being  unable 
to  use  his  voice  audibly,  addressed  his  remarks  in  a 
whispered  tone  to  some  one  who  stood  beside  him  in 
the  pulpit,  and  who  repeated  them,  sentence  by  sen- 
tence, to  the  assembly ;  a  few  times  he  wrote  them  out 
in  full  to  be  read  by  another ;  and  occasionally,  at 
some  more  private  meeting  in  a  small  room,  his  audi- 
tors had  the  pleasure  of  catching  the  rich  thoughts  and 
feelings  which  came  gushing  as  from  an  overflowing 
soul,  through  his  own  low  but  impressive  tones.  Dr. 
Wayland  has  preserved  several  of  these  addresses,  in 
his  Memoir.  The  writer  would  be  glad,  did  space  al- 
low, to  add  a  few  personal  reminiscences  of  similar 
occasions  ;  but  no  description  could  convey  the  peculiar 
impression  of  his  manner,  —  so  quiet,  so  simple  and 
humble,  yet  breathing  a  hush,  a  thrill  through  the 
assembly,  such  as  I  have  never  witnessed  elsewhere. 
We  felt  that  we  were  in  the  presence  of  one  who  had 
"  entered  within  the  vail,"  one  conversant,  beyond  most 
of  his  fellow-men,  with  the  mysteries  of  the  invisible 
world,  and  whose  life  was  "hid  with  Christ  in  God." 
Those  .whispered  words  stole  on  us  like  messages  from 


VISIT   TO    AMERICA.  475 

the  inner  sanctuary,  too  sacred  to  be  spoken  in  com- 
mon tones  to  the  outward  ear,  but  uttered  directly  to 
the  listening  heart. 

Dr.  Judson  was  greatly  interested  in  what  he  saw  of 
the  immense  growth  and  improvement  of  his  native 
land  since  he  left  it  in  his  youth  ;  most  of  all,  in  the 
progress  of  religious  benevolence.  He  formed  delight- 
ful friendships  with  many  whose  faces  he  had  never 
seen  before,  and  enjoyed  with  the  keenest  zest  those 
pleasures  of  refined  social  intercourse  from  which  he 
had  been  so  long  debarred.  No  one  who  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  his  society,  found  in  his  simple,  genial  manners, 
and  in  his  lively,  though  always  instructive  and  ele- 
vated conversation,  any  trace  of  the  bigot  or  ascetic. 

But  his  heart  yearned  for  "  his  home  on  the  banks 
of  the  Salwen  ; "  and  though  a  longer  residence  in 
this  country  was  urged  on  him  for  the  sake  of  his 
health,  he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  remj^n  beyond  the 
beginning  of  the  summer  of  1846.  On  the  second  of 
June,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Emily  Chubbuck,  a  lady 
widely  known  by  her  graceful  literary  productions, 
whose  sprightly  charms  of  mind  and  devoted  affection 
were  the  light  and  solace  of  his  last  years.*     On  the 

*  She  was  the  mother  of  the  youngest  of  the  six  orphan  children, 
to  whom  this  volume  is  inscribed.  It  should  be  added,  as  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  traits  in  her  truly  noble  character,  that  she  knew 


476  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

11th  of  July,  1846,  they  embarked  at  Boston  in  the 
ship  Faneuil  Hall,  bound  for  Maulmain,  which  place 
they  reached,  after  a  pleasant  voyage,  on  the  30th  of 
November. 

On  his  arrival  at  Maulmain,  finding  every  depart- 
ment of  labor  at  that  station  fully  manned,  he  could 
not  satisfy  himself  with  sitting  down  to  the  mere  liter- 
ary employment  of  making  a  dictionary.  Previous  to 
his  return,  he  had  formed  the  design  of  again  fixing 
his  residence  at  Rangoon,  should  it  be  practicable; 
with  the  further  purpose  of  improving  any  opportunity 
which  might  offer  for  making  another  attempt  at  Ava, 
which  had  always  been  the  central  point  of  interest  to 
his  mind.  He  found  the  circumstances  of  the  empire 
not  favorable  to  his  wishes,  the  reigning  king  being  no 
less  hostile  to  Christianity  than  his  predecessor,  and 
apparently  disposed  to  adopt  more  and  more  the  exclu- 
sive policy  q£  the  Chinese  in  regard  to  foreigners. 
During  a  preliminary  visit  to  Rangoon,  Dr.  Judson  was 
convinced,  that  even  such  freedom  of  missionary  effort 
as  had  been  formerly  allowed,  would  not  now  be  per- 
mitted. In  a  letter  to  the  corresponding  secretary,  he 
says  :  "  Any  known  attempt  at  proselyting  would  be 

no  difference  among  the  six.  All  were  equally  the  objects,  not 
only  of  her  faithful  care,  but  of  a  deep  maternal  tenderness,  of 
which  there  are  but  few  examples,  and  which  is  sufficient  alone  to 
endear  her  memory  to  all  who  honored  Dr.  Judson. 


LABORS    ON    HIS    RETURN.  477 

instantly  amenable  at  the  criminal  tribunal,  and  would 
probably  be  punished  by  the  imprisonment  or  death  of 
the  proselyte,  and  the  banishment  of  the  missionary." 
Still,  as  he  received  personally  a  very  friendly  recep- 
tion from  the  governor  of  the  city,  with 'whom  he  had 
been  acquainted  twenty  years  before,  he  resolved  to  re- 
move thither,  —  making  the  dictionary,  for  the  prose- 
cution of  which  Rangoon  furnished  greater  facilities 
than  Maulmain,  his  avowed  occupation,  and  doing  what 
missionary  work  he  could  in  private. 

The  following  extracts  from  Mrs.  Judson's  interest- 
ing "  Reminiscences,"  furnish  a  brief  outline  of  the 
incidents  of  this  visit. 

"  The  first  business  of  my  husband,  on  arriving  in  Ran- 
goon, was  to  collect  the  Christians  together ;  but  so  scattered 
was  the  little  flock,  and  so  doubtful  their  state,  that  he  was 
obliged  to  reorganize  the  church,  commencing  the  new  or- 
ganization with  about  a  dozen  members.  For  a  time  every 
thing  went  prosperously  with  us.  Frequent  meetings  were 
held  at  our  house,  and  regular  worship  on  the  Sabbath. 
Gradually,  the  congregation  enlarged  to  twenty,  to  thirty, 
and  still  upward,  until  it  attracted  the  attention  of  govern- 
ment. It  must  not  be  supposed  that  these  men  were  so  im- 
prudent as  to  come  in  of  a  morning,  or  leave  the  house  after 
worship,  in  a  company.  They  came  at  all  hours  between 
daylight  and  ten  o'clock,  and  dispersed  as  gradually.  Some 
brought  parcels,  some  dishes  of  fruit,  some  came  with  their 
robes  tucked  up  like  coolies,  and  some,  scorning  concealment, 
or  believing  it  unavailing,  appeared  in  their  usual  dress,  as 


478  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

though  on  a  matter-of-course  visit  to  the  foreigner.  When 
they  were  assembled,  the  outer  door  was  barred,  and  it  was 
with  great  difficulty  that  any  one  could  gain  admittance  after- 
wards. Dr.  Judson  sometimes  smiled  at  these  precautions ; 
but  he  considered  that  this  was  the  first  time  since  the  war 
that  any  missionary  had  been  stationed  in  Burmah,  without 
the  protection  of  an  English  resident  at  Ava,  and  was 
assured  that  there  never  had  been  a  time  of  such  intolerance 
throughout  the  land,  as  under  the  new  king.  Meantime  the 
Karens  had  been  apprised  of  our  arrival,  and  they  came 
down  from  the  jungle  in  parties  of  three,  four,  or  a  half 
dozen,  remaining  at  our  house  till  one  of  the  Burmese  assist- 
ants could  procure  them  passports  thence  to  Maulmain. 
(Previously  they  had  escaped,  overland.)  All  this  coming 
and  going  attracted  attention  to  our  house,  and  would  have 
done  so  much  earlier,  but  that  it  chanced  to  be  on  a  Mussul- 
man street. 

"  One  Saturday  morning  we  were  startled  by  some  private 
intimations  that  the  bloody  ray-woon,  as  one  of  the  vice- 
governors  was  called,  had  his  eye  on  us  ;  and,  a  little  before 
evening,  the  hints  were  fully  confirmed.  We  learned  from 
an  undoubted  source,  that  a  police  guard  had  been  stationed 
in  the  vicinity  of  our  house,  with  orders  to  seize  every  native 
not  known  to  be  a  servant  of  the  house,  seen  coming  out  of 
it.  We  inferred  that  their  policy  was  not  to  disturb  us,  at  pres- 
ent, but  the  blow  was  first  to  fall  on  the  poor  Christians. 
Several  Karens  were  stopping  with  us,  and,  in  addition  to 
our  usual  company  of  worshippers,  quite  a  number  of  invited 
friends  and  strangers  liad  promised  to  be  with  us  on  the  next 
day.  The  church  had  been  making  individual  efforts  to  en- 
large the  congregation.  I  shall  never  forget  the  expression 
of  my  husband's  face,  as  though  really  piercing  to  the  invis- 
ible, when  he  exclaimed,  '  I  tell  you,  if  we  had  but  the 
power  to  see  them,  the  air  above  us  is  thick  with  contending 


LABORS  ON  HIS  RETURN.  479 

spirits  —  the  good  and  the  bad  striving  for  the  mastery.  I 
know  where  final  victory  lies,  but  the  struggle  may  be  a  long 
one/  There  was  not  much  time  for  talking,  however.  He 
communicated  the  state  of  things,  as  far  as  he  thought  expe- 
dient, to  his  two  native  assistants,  and  sent  them  out  to  warn 
the  nearer  worshippers.  In  this,  great  caution  was  neces- 
.  in  order  to  prevent  a  panic ;  and  I  suppose  that  the 
Rangoon  Christians  have  never,  to  this  day,  known  the 
extent  of  their  danger.  As  the  assistants,  by  an  especial 
arrangement,  did  not  return  till  after  our  landlord's  hour  for 
closing  the  gate,  Dr.  Judson,  with  some  difficulty,  got  the 
key  into  his  own  possession ;  and  so,  in  the  first  gray  of 
morning,  the  Karens  were  guided  out  of  town,  and  advised 
to  return  to  the  jungle.  The  last  place  to  which  the  assist- 
ants carried  their  warning,  on  Sunday  morning,  was  a  little 
village  five  miles  from  Rangoon,  where  they  remained  till 
towards  evening.  Dr.  Judson  was  afraid  of  compromising 
the  Christians  by  going  to  any  of  their  houses  that  day ;  but 
he  had  advised  them,  through  the  assistants,  how  to  hold 
worship,  and  we  knew  of  several  places  where  little  knots 
of  men  and  women  were  gathered  for  prayer. 

H  These  demonstrations  on  the  part  of  government  were 
followed  up  by  a  series  of  petty  annoyances  and  insults, 
which  effectually  precluded  the  possibility  of  accomplishing 
much  good.  The  governor  was  friendly,  but  weak  and  cow- 
ardly; and  we  soon  found  that  his  protection  was  really 
worthless,  except  as  he  could  hold  the  petty  officers  in  awe. 
The  bloody  ray-woon  laughed  at  his  authority,  and  once 
actually  assembled  the  troops  against  him,  when  the  poor 
governor  yielded.  Both  Christians  and  inquirers,  however, 
still  came  to  us  in  private  ;  and  many  a  man,  who  refused  to 
take  even  a  book  from  the  teacher's  hands,  would  watch  his 
opportunity,  when  going  out,  to  snatch  one  from  a  box  placed 
near  the  door  for  that  purpose,  aud  hide  it  in  his  dress,  con- 


480  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

gratulating  himself,  no  doubt,  that  he  was  unsuspected  even 
by  us. 

Dr.  Judson  was  now  convinced,  that  to  attempt  any- 
thing further,  without  having  first  secured  a  favorable 
reception  in  the  capital,  was  a  mere  waste  of  time. 
"  I  am  persuaded,"  he  writes,  "  as  I  have  been  for 
years  past,  that  the  only  way  to  keep  footing  in 
Rangoon,  is  to  obtain  some  countenance  at  Ava."  It 
was  now  about  ten  years  since  this  important  post  had 
been  abandoned,  and  circumstances  had  in  that  time 
changed,  in  every  respect,  for  the  worse.  He  felt  that 
the  attempt  involved  great  danger,  —  possibly  the  risk 
of  life  itself.  But  with  his  dictionary  for  an  introduc- 
tion to  the  intelligent  members  of  the  government  and 
nobility,  the  prosecution  of  which,  moreover,  would 
bring  him  into  close  relations  with  the  most  learned 
men  of  the  capital,  he  hoped  prejudices  might  be  con- 
ciliated, and  the  way  gradually  paved  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  chief  object. 

He  had  become  wholly  absorbed  in  this  plan ;  all  his 
arrangements  were  made  for  a  speedy  departure  from 
Rangoon,  and  a  permit  obtained  from  the  friendly  gov- 
ernor to  proceed  to  the  "  golden  city  ; "  when  —  like  a 
clap  of  thunder  —  came  the  tidings  from  Maulraain, 
that  the  low  state  of  the  treasury  at  home  had  com- 
pelled the  utmost  possible  retrenchment  in  every  de- 


LABORS  ON  HIS  RETURN.  481 

partment  at  that  station,  and  that  nothing  remained  for 
carrying  out  his  wishes.  This  unexpected  blow  was 
the  more  disheartening,  as  an  index  of  the  declining 
state  of  missionary  feeling  in  the  churches  at  home  ; 
and  for  a  moment  he  was  ready  to  despair  of  a  work 
dependent  for  the  means  of  its  accomplishment  on  such 
feeble  and  fitful  piety.  He  thus  expresses  the  first  bit- 
terness of  his  disappointment,  in  a  letter  to  the  corre- 
sponding secretary  ;  which  he  cannot  close,  however, 
without  a  touch  expressive  of  his  characteristic  hope- 
fulness, and  his  unwavering  adherence  to  his  favorite 
apothegm  :  "  Truth  is  mighty  and  will  prevail." 

"  It  is  my  growing  conviction  that  the  Baptist  churches  in 
America  are  behind  the  age  in  missionary  spirit.  They  now 
and  then  make  a  spasmodic  effort  to  throw  off  a  nightmare 
debt  of  some  years'  accumulation,  and  then  sink  back  into 
unconscious  repose.  Then  come  paralyzing  orders  to  re- 
trench ;  new  enterprises  are  checked  in  their  very  concep- 
tion, and  applicants  for  missionary  employ  are  advised  to 
wait,  and  soon  become  merged  in  the  ministry  at  home. 
Several  cases  of  that  sort  I  encountered  during  my  late  visit 
to  the  United  States.  This  state  of  things  cannot  last  al- 
ways. The  Baptist  missions  will  probably  pass  into  the 
hands  of  other  denominations,  or  be  temporarily  suspended ; 
and  those  who  have  occupied  the  van  will  foil  back  into  the 
rear.  Nebuchadnezzar  will  be  driven  out  from  men,  to  eat 
grass  like  an  ox,  until  seven  times  pass  over  him.  But  he 
will,  at  length,  recover  his  senses,  and  be  restored  to  the 
throne  of  his  kingdom,  and  reign  over  the  whole  earth." 
31 


482  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

Nothing  was  now  left  but  to  return  to  Maulraain  for 
the  present.  He  never  relinquished,  however,  his 
plan  of  attempting  a  mission  at  Ava ;  and  in  all  his 
subsequent  arrangements,  reserved  the  liberty  of  im- 
proving any  favorable  opportunity  for  it  which  might 
arise.  He  accordingly  applied  to  the  Board,  soon  after 
his  return  to  Eangoon,  for  a  standing  appropriation  for 
this  special  service.  This  was  cheerfully  granted  ;  but 
before  its  arrival,  another  somewhat  encouraging  indi- 
cation had  passed  away,  and  no  other  occurred  while 
he  lived.  He  acquiesced  in  it  as  the  will  of  Provi- 
dence, and  therefore,  on  the  whole,  for  the  best.  But 
is  it  not  a  pity  that,  in  so  many  instances,  the  wisest 
and  most  beneficent  schemes  for  the  advancement  of 
truth  and  righteousness,  should  be  frustrated  for  lack 
of  a  few  hundreds  or  thousands  of  dollars,  out  of  the 
abundance  which  God  has  lent,  for  this  very  purpose, 
to  the  church  ?  No  doubt  all  such  disappointments 
will  be  found,  in  the  end,  to  have  been  overruled  for 
the  best ;  but  who  can  tell  how  long  they  may  postpone 
the  incoming  of  the  millennial  day ! 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

CLOSING    SCENES    OF   HIS   LIFE. 

After  his  return  from  Rangoon,  Dr.  Judson  resided 
at  Maulmain,  devoting  himself  with  great  assiduity  to 
the  completion  of  his  dictionary.  In  November,  1849, 
he  took  a  violent  cold,  which  brought  on  a  fever,  simi- 
lar to  those  from  which  he  had  suffered  more  or  less 
through  his  whole  missionary  life,  but  of  an  aggravated 
type.  He  never  surmounted  the  effects  of  this  attack. 
Finding  himself  unable  to  rally  as  usual,  he  took  a 
short  coast  voyage,  but  without  much  relief.  He  then 
removed  with  his  family  to  Amherst,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  sea-air ;  but  the  change  proved  equally  unavailing. 
He  at  length  yielded  to  the  importunities  of  his  mis- 
sionary brethren,  and  embarked,  in  a  state  of  excessive 
weakness,  in  a  ship  bound  to  the  Isle  of  France,  at- 
tended by  Mr.  Thomas  Ranney,  a  member  of  the  mis- 
sion, —  Mrs.  Judson's  health  not  permitting  her  to 
accompany  him,  as  she  most  earnestly  desired. 


484  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

From  the  time  of  his  sailing,  he  sunk  rapidly;  and, 
after  a  few  days  of  intense  suffering,  "  he  fell  asleep  " 
on  the  12th  of  April,  1850,  in  the  G2d  year  of  his  age. 
In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  "  in  latitude  thirteen 
degrees  north,  and  longitude  ninety-three  degrees  east, 
and  scarcely  three  days  out  of  sight  of  the  mountains 
of  Burmah,"  the  mortal  remains  of  Adoniram  Jud- 
son  were  committed  to  the  deep. 

The  Christian  world  is  indebted  to  Mrs.  Judson,  for 
a  most  interesting  account  of  the  last  year  of  her  hus- 
band's life,  which  is  here  given  as  the  most  appropriate 
close  to  this  sketch  of  his  character  and  labors. 

"  Closing  Scenes  in  Dr.  Judson's  Life,  communicated  to  his 
Sister  by  Mrs.  Judson. 

"  Maulmain,  September  20,  1850. 

"My  dear  Sister  :  Last  month  I  could  do  no  more  than 
announce  to  you  our  painful  bereavement,  which,  though  not 
altogether  unexpected,  will,  I  very  well  know,  fall  upon  your 
heart  with  overwhelming  weight.  You  will  find  the  account 
of  your  brother's  last  days  on  board  the  Aristide  Marie,  in  a 
letter  written  by  Mr.  Kanney,  from  Mauritius,  to  the  secre- 
tary of  the  Board ;  and  I  can  add  nothing  to  it,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  unimportant  particulars,  gleaned  in  conver- 
sations with  Mr.  Ranney  and  the  Coringa  servant.  I  grieve 
that  it  should  be  so  —  that  I  was  not  permitted  to  watch  be- 
side him  during  those  days  of  terrible  suffering;  but  the  pain 
which  I  at  first  felt  is  gradually  yielding  to  gratitude  for  the 
inestimable  privileges  which  had  previously  been  granted  me. 

"  There  was  something  exceedingly  beautiful  in  the  decline 


CLOSING    SCENES    OF    HIS    LIFE.  485 

of  your  brother's  life  —  more  beautiful  than  I  can  describe, 
though  the  impression  will  remain  with  me  as  a  sacred  legacy 
until  I  go  to  meet  him  where  suns  shall  never  set,  and  life 
shall  never  end.  He  had  been,  from  my  first  acquaintance 
with  him,  an  uncommonly  spiritual  Christian,  exhibiting  his 
richest  graces  in  the  unguarded  intercourse  of  private  life  ; 
but  during  his  last  year,  it  seemed  as  though  the  light  of  the 
world  on  which  he  was  entering  had  been  sent  to  brighten 
his  upward  pathway.  Every  subject  on  which  we  conversed, 
every  book  we  read,  every  incident  that  occurred,  whether 
trivial  or  important,  had  a  tendency  to  suggest  some  peculiar- 
ly spiritual  train  of  thought,  till  it  seemed  to  me  that,  more 
than  ever  before,  '  Christ  was  all  his  theme.'  Something  of 
the  same  nature  was  also  noted  in  his  preaching,  to  which  I 
then  had  not  the  privilege  of  listening.  He  was  in  the  habit, 
however,  of  studying  his  subject  for  the  Sabbath,  audibly, 
and  in  my  presence,  at  which  time  he  was  frequently  so  much 
affected  as  to  weep,  and  sometimes  so  overwhelmed  with  the 
vastness  of  his  conceptions  as  to  be  obliged  to  abandon  his 
theme  and  choose  another.  My  own  illness  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  year,  had  brought  eternity  very  near  to  us,  and 
rendered  death,  the  grave,  and  the  bright  heaven  beyond  it, 
familiar  subjects  of  conversation.  Gladly  would  I  give  you, 
my  dear  sister,  some  idea  of  the  share  borne  by  him  in  those 
memorable  conversations ;  but  it  would  be  impossible  to  con- 
vey, even  to  those  who  knew  him  best,  the  most  distant  con- 
ception of  them.  I  believe  he  has  sometimes  been  thought 
eloquent,  both  in  conversation  and  in  the  sacred  desk;  but 
the  fervid,  burning  eloquence,  the  deep  pathos,  the  touching 
tenderness,  the  elevation  of  thought,  and  intense  beauty  of 
expression,  which  characterized  those  private  teachings,  were 
not  only  beyond  what  I  had  ever  heard  before,  but  such  as  I 
felt  sure  arrested  his  own  attention,  and  surprised  even  him- 
self.    About  this  time  he  began  to  find  unusual  satisfaction 


486  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

and  enjoyment  in  his  private  devotions,  and  seemed  to  have 
new  objects  of  interest  continually  rising  in  his  mind,  each 
of  which  in  turn  became  special  subjects  of  prayer.  Among 
these,  one  of  the  most  prominent  was  the  conversion  of  his 
posterity.  He  remarked,  that  he  had  always  prayed  for  his 
children,  but  that  of  late  he  had  felt  impressed  with  the  duty 
of  praying  for  their  children  and  their  children's  children 
down  to  the  latest  generation.  He  also  prayed  most  fervently 
that  his  impressions  on  this  particular  subject  might  be  trans- 
ferred to  his  sons  and  daughters,  and  thence  to  their  off- 
spring, so  that  he  should  ultimately  meet  a  long,  unbroken 
line  of  descendants  before  the  throne  of  God,  where  all 
might  join  together  in  ascribing  everlasting  praises  to  their 
Redeemer. 

"Another  subject,  which  occupied  a  large  share  of  his  at- 
tention, was  that  of  brotherly  love.  You  are,  perhaps,  aware 
that,  like  all  persons  of  his  ardent  temperament,  he  was  subr 
ject  to  strong  attachments  and  aversions,  which  he  sometimes 
had  difficulty  in  bringing  under  the  controlling  influence  of 
divine  grace.  He  remarked  that  he  had  always  felt  more  or 
less  of  an  affectionate  interest  in  his  brethren,  as  brethren, 
and  some  of  them  he  had  loved  very  dearly  for  their  personal 
qualities ;  but  he  was  now  aware  that  he  had  never  placed 
his  standard  of  love  high  enough.  He  spoke  of  them  as 
children  of  God,  redeemed  by  the  Saviour's  blood,  watched 
over  and  guarded  by  his  love,  dear  to  his  heart,  honored  by 
him  in  the  election,  and  to  be  honored  hereafter  before  the 
assembled  universe  ;  and  he  said  it  was  not  sufficient  to  be 
kind  and  obliging  to  such,  to  abstain  from  evil  speaking,  and 
make  a  general  mention  of  them  in  our  prayers;  but  our  at- 
tachment to  them  should  be  of  the  most  ardent  and  exalted 
character ;  it  would  be  so  in  heaven,  and  we  lost  immeasur- 
ably by  not  beginning  now.  'As  I  have  loved  you,  so  ought 
ye  also  to  love  one  another,'  was  a  precept  continually  in  his 


CLOSING   SCENES    OF   HIS   LIFE.  487 

mind  ;  and  he  would  often  murmur,  as  though  unconsciously, 
*  "As  I  have  loved  you,"  —  "as  I  have  loved  you,"'  —  then 
burst  out  with  the  exclamation,  '  O,  the  love  of  Christ !  the 
love  of  Christ ! ' 

"  His  prayers  for  the  mission  were  marked  by  an  earnest, 
grateful  enthusiasm ;  and  in  speaking  of  missionary  opera- 
tions in  general,  his  tone  was  one  of  elevated  triumph,  almost 
of  exultation  ;  for  he  not  only  felt  an  unshaken  confidence 
in  their  final  success,  but  would  often  exclaim,  •  What  won- 
ders —  O,  what  wonders  God  has  already  wrought ! ' 

"  I  remarked  that  during  this  year  his  literary  labor,  which 
he  had  never  liked,  and  upon  which  he  had  entered  unwil- 
lingly and  from  a  feeling  of  necessity,  was  growing  daily 
more  irksome  to  him  ;  and  he  always  spoke  of  it  as  his  '  heavy 
work,'  his  '  tedious  work,'  '  that  wearisome  dictionary,'  &c, 
though  this  feeling  led  to  no  relaxation  of  effort.  He  longed, 
however,  to  find  some  more  spiritual  employment,  to  be  en- 
gaged in  what  he  considered  more  legitimate  missionary 
labor,  and  drew  delightful  pictures  of  the  future,  when  his 
whole  business  would  be  but  to  preach  and  to  pray. 

"  During  all  this  time  I  had  not  observed  any  failure  in 
physical  strength  ;  and  though  his  mental  exercises  occupied 
a  large  share  of  my  thoughts  when  alone,  it  never  once  oc- 
curred to  me  that  this  might  be  the  brightening  of  the  setting 
sun ;  my  only  feeling  was  that  of  pleasure,  that  one  so  near 
to  me  was  becoming  so  pure  and  elevated  in  his  sentiments, 
and  so  lovely  and  Christ-like  in  his  character.  In  person  he 
had  grown  somewhat  stouter  than  when  in  America;  his 
complexion  had  a  healthful  hue,  compared  with  that  of  his 
associates  generally  ;  and  though  by  no  means  a  person  of 
uniformly  firm  health,  he  seemed  to  possess  such  vigor  and 
strength  of  constitution,  that  I  thought  his  life  as  likely  to  be 
extended  twenty  years  longer,  as  that  of  any  member  of  the 
mission.    He  continued  his  system  of  morning  exercise,  com- 


488  THE    EARNEST   MAN. 

meneed  when  a  student  at  Andover,  and  was  not  satisfied 
with  a  common  walk  on  level  ground,  but  always  chose  an 
up-hill  path,  and  then  frequently  went  bounding  on  his  way 
with  all  the  exuberant  activity  of  boyhood. 

"  He  was  of  a  singularly  happy  temperament,  although  not 
of  that  even  cast  which  never  rises  above  a  certain  level,  and 
is  never  depressed.  Possessing  acute  sensibilities,  suffering 
with  those  who  suffered,  and  entering  as  readily  into  the  joys 
of  the  prosperous  and  happy,  he  was  variable  in  his  moods ; 
but  religion  formed  such  an  essential  element  in  his  character, 
and  his  trust  in  Providence  was  so  implicit  and  habitual,  that 
he  was  never  gloomy,  and  seldom  more  than  momentarily 
disheartened.  On  the  other  hand,  being  accustomed  to  re- 
gard all  the  events  of  this  life,  however  minute  or  painful,  as 
ordered  in  wisdom,  and  tending  to  one  great  and  glorious 
end,  he  lived  in  almost  constant  obedience  to  the  apostolic 
injunction,  '  Rejoice  evermore  ! '  He  often  told  me  that  al- 
though he  had  endured  much  personal  suffering,  and  passed 
through  many  fearful  trials  in  the  course  of  his  eventful  life, 
a  kind  Providence  had  also  hedged  him  round  with  precious, 
peculiar  blessings,  so  that  his  joys  had  far  outnumbered  his 
sorrows. 

"  Towards  the  close  of  September  of  last  year,  he  said  to 
me  one  evening,  '  What  deep  cause  have  we  for  gratitude  to 
God !  Do  fou  believe  there  are  any  other  two  persons  in  the 
wide  world  so  happy  as  we  are  ? '  enumerating,  in  his  own 
earnest  manner,  several  sources  of  happiness,  in  which  our 
work  as  missionaries,  and  our  eternal  prospects,  occupied  a 
prominent  position.  When  he  had  finished  his  glowing  pic- 
ture, I  remarked,  I  scarcely  know  why,  but  there  was  a 
heavy  cloud  upon  my  spirits  that  evening,  '  We  are  certainly 
very  happy  now,  but  it  cannot  be  so  always.  I  am  thinking 
of  the  time  when  one  of  us  must  stand  beside  the  bed,  and 
see  the  other  die.' 


CLOSING    SCENES    OF   HIS    LIFE.  489 

" '  Yes,'  lie  said,  *  that  will  be  a  sad  moment  ;  I  felt  it  most 
deeply  a  little  while  ago,  but  now  it  would  not  be  strange  if 
your  life  were  prolonged  beyond  mine  —  though  I  should 
wish,  if  it  were  possible,  to  spare  you  that  pain.  It  is  the 
one  left  alone  who  suffers,  not  the  one  who  goes  to  be  with 
Christ.  If  it  should  only  be  the  will  of  God  that  we  might 
go  together,  like  young  James  and  his  wife !  But  he  will 
order  all  things  well,  and  we  can  safely  trust  our  future  to  his 
hands.' 

"  That  same  night  we  were  roused  from  sleep  by  the  sud- 
den illness  of  one  of  the  children.  There  was  an  unpleas- 
ant, chilling  dampness  in  the  air,  as  it  came  to  us  through  the 
openings  in  the  sloats  above  the  windows,  which  affected  your 
brother  very  sensibly;  and  he  soon  began  to  shiver  so  vio- 
lently, that  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  his  couch,  where  he 
remained  under  a  warm  covering  until  morning.  In  the 
morning  he  awoke  with  a  severe  cold,  accompanied  by  some 
degree  of  fever ;  but  as  it  did  not  seem  very  serious,  and  our 
three  children  were  all  suffering  from  a  similar  cause,  we 
failed  to  give  it  any  especial  attention.  From  that  time  he 
was  never  well,  though  in  writing  to  you  before,  I  think  I 
dated  the  commencement  of  his  illness  from  the  month  of 
November,  when  he  laid  aside  his  studies.  I  know  that  he 
regarded  this  attack  as  trifling;  and  yet  one  evening  he  spent 
a  long  time  in  advising  me  with  regard  to  my  future  course, 
if  I  should  be  deprived  of  his  guidance,  saying  that  it  is  al- 
ways wise  to  be  prepared  for  exigencies  of  this  nature.  After 
the  month  of  November,  he  failed  gradually,  occasionally 
rallying  in  such  a  manner  as  to  deceive  us  all,  but  at  each 
relapse  sinking  lower  than  at  the  previous  one,  though  still 
full  of  hope  and  courage,  and  yielding  ground  only  inch%by 
inch,  as  compelled  by  the  triumphant  progress  of  disease. 
During  some  hours  of  every  day  he  suffered  intense  pain ; 
but  his  naturally  buoyant  spirits  and  uncomplaining  dispo- 


490  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

sition  led  him  to  speak  so  lightly  of  it,  that  I  used  sometimes 
to  fear  that  the  doctor,  though  a  very  skilful  man,  would  be 
fatally  deceived. 

"As  his  health  declined,  his  mental  exercises  at  first  seemed 
deepened  ;  and  he  gave  still  larger  portions  of  his  time  to 
prayer,  conversing  with  the  utmost  freedom  on  his  daily  pro- 
gress, and  the  extent  of  his  self-conquest.  Just  before  our 
trip  to  Mergui,  which  took  place  in  January,  he  looked  up 
from  his  pillow  one  day  with  sudden  animation,  and  said  to 
me  earnestly,  '  I  have  gained  the  victory  at  last.  I  love  every 
one  of  Christ's  redeemed,  as  I  believe  he  would  have  me 
love  them —  in  the  same  manner,  though  not  probably  to  the 
same  degree  as  we  shall  love  one  another  in  heaven  ;  and 
gladly  would  I  prefer  the  meanest  of  his  creatures  who  bears 
his  name,  before  myself."  This  he  said  in  allusion  to  the 
text,  '  In  honor  preferring  one  another,'  on  which  he  had  fre- 
quently dwelt  with  great  emphasis.  After  further  similar 
conversation,  he  concluded  :  'And  now  here  I  lie  at  peace 
with  all  the  world,  and  what  is  better  still,  at  peace  with  my 
own  conscience.  I  know  that  I  am  a  miserable  sinner  in  the 
sight  of  God,  with  no  hope  but  in  the  blessed  Saviour's 
merits  ;  but  I  cannot  think  of  any  particular  fault,  any  pe- 
culiarly besetting  sin,  which  it  is  now  my  duty  to  correct. 
Can  you  tell  me  of  any  ?  ' 

"And  truly,  from  this  time  no  other  Avord  would  so  well 
express  his  state  of  feelings  as  that  one  of  his  own  choosing 
— peace.  He  had  no  particular  exercises  afterwards,  but 
remained  calm  and  serene,  speaking  of  himself  daily  as  a 
great  sinner,  who  had  been  overwhelmed  with  benefits,  and 
declaring  that  he  had  never  in  all  his  life  before  had  such 
delightful  views  Of  the  unfathomable  love  and  infinite  conde- 
scension of  the  Saviour,  as  were  now  daily  opening  before 
him.  '  O,  the  love  of  Christ !  the  love  of  Christ ! '  he  would 
suddenly  exclaim,  while  his  eye  kindled,  and  the  tears  chased 


CLOSING    SCENES    OF   HIS    LIFE.  491 

each  other  down  his  cheeks ;  "  we  cannot  understand  it  now ; 
but  what  a  beautiful  study  for  eternity ! ' 

"After  our  return  from  Mergui,  the  doctor  advised  a  still 
further  trial  of  the  effects  of  sea  air  and  sea-bathing ;  and  we 
accordingly  proceeded  to  Amherst,  where  we  remained  near- 
ly a  month.  This  to  me  was  the  darkest  period  of  his  ill- 
ness —  no  medical  adviser,  no  friend,  at  hand,  and  he  daily 
growing  weaker  and  weaker.  He  began  to  totter  in  walk- 
ing, clinging  to  the  furniture  and  walls,  when  he  thought  he 
was  unobserved,  (for  he  was  not  willing  to  acknowledge  the 
extent  of  his  debility,)  and  his  wan  face  was  of  a  ghastly 
paleness.  His  sufferings,  too,  were  sometimes  fearfully  in- 
tense, so  that,  in  spite  of  his  habitual  sel£eontrol,  his  groans 
would  fill  the  house.  At  other  times  a  kind  of  lethargy 
seemed  to  steal  over  him,  and  he  would  sleep  almost  inces- 
santly for  twenty-four  hours,  seeming  annoyed  if  he  were 
aroused  or  disturbed.  Yet  there  were  portions  of  the  time 
when  he  was  comparatively  comfortable,  and  conversed  in- 
telligently ;  but  his  mind  seemed  to  revert  to  former  scenes, 
and  he  tried  to  amuse  me  with  stories  of  his  boyhood,  his 
college  days,  his  imprisonment  in  France,  and  his  early  mis- 
sionary life.  lie  had  a  great  deal  also  to  say  on  his  favorite 
theme,  '  the  love  of  Christ ; '  but  his  strength  was  too  much 
impaired  for  any  continuous  mental  effort.  Even  a  short 
prayer,  made  audibly,  exhausted  him  to  such  a  degree  that 
he  was  obliged  to  discontinue  the  practice. 

"At  length  I  wrote  to  Maulmain,  giving  some  expression 
of  my  anxieties  and  misgivings,  and  our  kind  missionary 
friends,  who  had  from  the  first  evinced  all  the  tender  interest 
and  watchful  sympathy  of  the  nearest  kindred,  immediately 
sent  for  us  —  the  doctor  advising  a  sea  voyage.  But  as  there 
was  no  vessel  in  the  harbor  bound  for  a  port  sufficiently  dis- 
tant, we  thought  it  best,  in  the  mean  time,  to  remove  from 
our  old  dwelling,  which  had  long  been   condemned  as  un- 


492  THE   EARNEST   MAN. 

health}',  to  another  mission  house,  fortunately  empty.  This 
change  was,  at  first,  attended  with  the  most  beneficial  results ; 
and  <ftir  hopes  revived  so  much,  that  we  looked  forward  to 
the  approaching  rainy  season  for  entire  restoration.  But  it 
lasted  only  a  little  while  ;  and  then  both  of  us  became  con- 
vinced that,  though  a  voyage  at  sea  involved  much  that  was 
exceedingly  painful,  it  yet  presented  the  only  prospect  of 
recovery,  and  could  not,  therefore,  without  a  breach  of  duty, 
be  neglected. 

" '  O,  if  it  were  only  the  will  of  God  to  take  me  now  —  to 
let  me  die  here  ! '  he  repeated  over  and  over  again,  in  a  tone 
of  anguish,  while  we  were  considering  the  subject.  '  I  can- 
not, cannot  go  !  This  is  almost  more  than  I  can  bear  J  Was 
there  ever  suffering  like  our  suffering  ?  '  and  the  like  broken 
expressions,  were  continually  falling  from  his  lips.  But  he 
soon  gathered  more  strength  of  purpose ;  and  after  the  de- 
cision was  fairly  made,  he  never  hesitated  for  a  moment, 
rather  regarding  the  prospect  with  pleasure.  I  think  the 
struggle  which  this  resolution  cost,  injured  him  very  material- 
ly ;  though  probably  it  had  no  share  in  bringing  about  the 
final  result.  God,  who  saw  the  end  from  the  beginning,  had 
counted  out  his  days,  and  they  were  hastening  to  a  close. 
Until  this  time  he  had  been  able  to  stand,  and  to  walk  slowly 
from  room  to  room;  but  as  he  one  evening  attempted,  to  rise 
from  his  chair,  he  was  suddenly  deprived  of  his  small  rem- 
nant of  muscular  strength,  and  would  have  fallen  to  the  floor 
but  for  timely  support. 

"  From  that  moment  his  decline  was  rapid.  As  he  lay 
helplessly  upon  his  couch,  and  watched  the  swelling  of  his 
feet,  and  other  alarming  symptoms,  he  became  very  anxious 
to  commence  his  voyage,  and  I  felt  equally  anxious  to  have 
his  wishes  gratified.  I  still  hoped  he  might  recover;  the 
doctor  said  the  chances  of  life  and  death  were,  in  his  opinion, 
equally  balanced.     And  then  he   always  loved   the   sea  so 


CLOSING    SCENES    OF    HIS    LIFE.  493 

dearly  '  There  was  something  exhilarating  to  him  in  the 
motion  of  a  vessel,  and  he  spoke  with  animation  of  getting 
free  from  the  almost  suffocating  atmosphere  incident  to  the 
hot  season,  and  drinking  in  the  fresh  sea  breezes.  He  talked 
but  little  more,  however,  than  was  necessary  to  indicate  his 
wants,  his  bodily  sufferings  being  too  great  to  allow  of  con- 
versation ;  but  several  times  he  looked  up  to  me  with  a  bright 
smile,  and  exclaimed,  as  heretofore, '  O,  the  love  of  Christ! 
the  love  of  Christ ! ' 

"  I  found  it  difficult  to  ascertain,  from  expressions  casually 
dropped  from  time  to  time,  his  real  opinion  with  regard  to 
his  recovery ;  but  I  thought  there  was  some  reason  to  doubt 
whether  he  was  fully  aware  of  his  critical  situation.  I  did 
not  suppose  he  had  any  preparation  to  make  at  this  late  hour, 
and  I  felt  sure  that,  if  he  should  be  called  ever  so  unexpect- 
edly, he  would  not  enter  the  presence  of  his  Maker  with  a 
ruffled  spirit ;  but  I  could  not  bear  to  have  him  go  away, 
without  knowing  how  doubtful  it  was  whether  our  next  meet- 
ing would  not  be  in  eternity  ;  and  perhaps,  too,  in  my  own 
.  I  might  still  have  looked  for  words  of  encourage- 
ment and  sympathy  to  a  source  which  had  never  before 
failed. 

"  It  was  late  in  the  night,  and  I  had  been  performing  some 
little  sick-room  offices,  when  suddenly  he  looked  up  to  me, 
and  exclaimed  :  '  This  will  never  do  !  You  are  killing  your- 
self for  me,  and  I  will  not  permit  it.  You  must  have  some 
one  to  relieve  you.  If  I  had  not  been  made  selfish  by  suffer- 
ing, I  should  have  insisted  upon  it  long  ago.' 

••  He  spoke  so  like  himself,  with  the  earnestness  of  health, 
and  in  a  tone  to  which  my  ear  had  of  late  been  a  stranger, 
that  for  a  moment  1  felt  almost  bewildered  with  sudden  hope. 
II.-  received  my  reply  to  what  he  had  said  with  a  half-pitying, 
half-gratified  smile;  but  in  the  mean  time  his  expression  had 
changed  —  the  marks  of  excessive  debility  were  again  appar- 


494  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

ent,  and  I  could  not  forbear  adding :  '  It  is  only  a  little  while, 
you  know.' 

" '  Only  a  little  while/  he  repeated,  mournfully ;  '  this  sep- 
aration is  a  bitter  thing,  but  it  does  not  distress  me  now  as  it 
did  —  I  am  too  weak.'  '  You  have  no  reason  to  be  distressed,' 
I  answered,  '  with  such  glorious  prospects  before  you.  You 
have  often  told  me  it  is  the  one  left  alone  who  suffers,  not  the 
one  who  goes  to  be  with  Christ.'  He  gave  me  a  rapid,  ques- 
tioning glance,  then  assumed  for  several  moments  an  attitude 
of  deep  thought.  Finally,  he  slowly  unclosed  his  eyes,  and 
fixing  them  on  me,  said  in  a  calm,  earnest  tone,  '  I  do  not 
believe  I  am  going  to  die.  I  think  I  know  why  this  illness  has 
been  sent  upon  me ;  I  needed  it ;  I  feel  that  it  has  done  me 
good ;  and  it  is  my  opinion  that  I  shall  now  recover,  and  be  a 
better  and  more  useful  man.' 

"  '  Then  it  is  your  wish  to  recover  ? '  I  inquired.  '  If  it 
should  be  the  will  of  God,  yes.  I  should  like  to  complete  the 
dictionary,  on  which  I  have  bestowed  so  much  labor,  now  that 
it  is  so  nearly  done  ;  for  though  it  has  not  been  a  work  that 
pleased  my  taste,  or  quite  satisfied  my  feelings,  I  have  never 
underrated  its  importance.  Then  after  that  come  all  the 
plans  that  we  have  formed.  O,  I  feel  as  if  I  were  only  just 
beginning  to  be  prepared  for  usefulness.' 

"  'It  is  the  opinion  of  most  of  the  mission,'  I  remarked, 
*  that  you  will  not  recover.'  '  I  know  it  is,'  he  replied ;  '  and 
I  suppose  they  think  me  an  old  man,  and  imagine  it  is  noth- 
ing for  one  like  me  to  resign  a  life  so  full  of  trials.  But  I  am 
not  old  —  at  least  in  that  sense  ;  you  know  I  am  not.  O,  no 
man  ever  left  this  world,  with  more  inviting  prospects,  with 
brighter  hopes  or  warmer  feelings  —  warmer  feelings;'  he 
repeated,  and  burst  into  tears.  His  face  was  perfectly  placid, 
even  while  the  tears  broke  away  from  the  closed  lids,  and 
rolled,  one  after  another,  down  to  the  pillow.  There  was  no 
trace  of  agitation  or  pain  in  his  manner  of  weeping,  but  it  was 


CLOSING    SCENES    OF    HIS    LIFE.  495 

evidently  the  result  of  acute  sensibilities,  combined  with  great 
physical  weakness.  To  some  suggestions  which  I  ventured  to 
make,  he  replied,  '  It  is  not  that  —  I  know  all  that,  and  feel  it 
in  my  inmost  heart.  Lying  here  on  my  bed,  wheel  I  could 
not  talk,  I  have  had  such  views  of  the  loving  condescension 
of  Christ,  and  the  glories  of  heaven,  as  I  believe  are  seldom 
granted  to  mortal  man.  It  is  not  because  I  shrink  from  death 
that  I  wish  to  live,  neither  is  it  because  the  ties  that  bind  me 
here,  though  some  of  them  are  vary  sweet,  bear  any  compar- 
ison with  the  drawings  I  at  times  feel  towards  heaven  ;  but  a 
few  years  would  not  be  missed  from  my  eternity  of  bliss,  and 
I  can  well  afford  to  spare  them,  both  for  your  sake  and  for 
the  sake  of  the  poor  Burmans.  I  am  not  tired  of  my  work, 
neither  am  I  tired  of  the  world ;  yet  when  Christ  calls  me 
home,  I  shall  go  with  the  gladness  of  a  boy  bounding  away 
from  his  school.  Perhaps  I  feel  something  like  the  young 
bride,  when  she  contemplates  resigning  the  pleasant  associ- 
ations of  her  childhood  for  a  yet  dearer  home  —  though  only 
a  very  little  like  her,  for  (here  u  no  doubt  resting  on  my 
future*  'Then  death  would  not  take  you  by  surprise,'  I 
remarked,  '  if  it  should  come  even  before  you  could  get  on 
board  ship  ? '  *  O,  no,'  he  said,  '  death  will  never  take  me 
by  surprise  —  do  not  be  afraid  of  that  —  I  feel  so  strong  in 
Christ.  He  has  not  led  me  so  tenderly  thus  far,  to  forsake 
me  at  the  very  gate  of  heaven.  No,  no ;  I  am  willing  to  live 
a  few  years  longer,  if  it  should  be  so  ordered  ;  and  if  other- 
wise, I  am  willing  and  glad  to  die  now.  I  leave  myself  en- 
tirely in  the  hands  of  God,  to  be  disposed  of  according  to  his 
holy  will.' 

"  The  next  day  some  one  mentioned,  in  his  presence,  that 
the  native  Christians  were  greatly  opposed  to  the  voyage,  and 
that  many  other  persons  had  a  similar  feeling  with  regard  to 
it    I  thought  he  seemed  troubled,  and  after  the  visitor  had 


496  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

•withdrawn,  I  inquired  if  he  still  felt  as  when  he  conversed 
with  me  the  night  previous.  He  replied,  '  O,  yes ;  that  was 
no  evanescent  feeling.  It  has  been  with  me,  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  for  years,  and  will  be  with  me,  I  trust,  to  the  end. 
I  am  ready  to  go  to-day —  if  it  should  be  the  will  of  God, 
this  very  hour ;  but  I  am  not  anxious  to  die ;  at  least  when  I 
am  not  beside  myself  with  pain.' 

" '  Then  why  are  you  so  desirous  to  go  to  sea  ?  I  should 
think  it  would  be  a  matter  of  indifference  to  you.'  '  No,'  he 
answered,  quietly,  '  my  judgment  tells  me  it  would  be  wrong 
not  to  go;  the  doctor  says  criminal.  I  shall  certainly  die 
here  ;  if  I  go  away  I  may  possibly  recover.  There  is  no 
question  with  regard  to  duty  in  such  a  case  ;  and  I  do  not 
like  to  see  any  hesitation,  even  though  it  springs  from  affec- 
tion.' 

"  He  several  times  spoke  of  a  burial  at  sea,  and  always  as 
though  the  prospect  were  agreeable.  It  brought,  he  said,  a 
sense  of  freedom  and  expansion,  and  seemed  far  pleasanter 
than  the  confined,  dark,  narrow  grave,  to  which  he  had  com- 
mitted so  many  that  he  loved.  And  he  added,  that  although 
his  burial-place  was  a  matter  of  no  real  importance,  yet  he 
believed  it  was  not  in  human  nature  to  be  altogether:without 
a  choice. 

"  I  i^ave  already  given  you  an  account  of  the  embarkation, 
of  my  visits  to  him  while  the  vessel  remained  in  the  river, 
and  of  our  last  sad,  silent  parting ;  and  Mr.  Ranney  has  fin- 
ished the  picture.  You  will  find,  in  this  closing  part,  some 
dark  shadows,  that  will  give  you  pain ;  but  you  must  remem- 
ber that  his  present  felicity  is  enhanced  by  those  very  suffer- 
ings ;  and  we  should  regret  nothing  that  serves  to  brighten 
his  crown  in  glory.  I  ought  also  to  add,  that  I  have  gained 
pleasanter  impressions  in  conversation  with  Mr.  Ranney 
than  from  his  written  account ;  but  it  would  be  difficult  to 


CLOSING    SCENES    OF    HIS    LIFE.  497 

convey  them  to  you;  and,  as  he  whom  they  concern  was 
accustomed  to  say  of  similar  things,  '  you  will  learn  it  all  in 
heaven.' 

"  During  the  last  hour  of  your  sainted  brother's  life,  Mr. 
Racney  bent  over  him,  and  held  his  hand,  while  poor  Paia- 
pah  stood  at  a  little  distance,  weeping  bitterly.  The  table 
had  been  spread  in  the  cuddy,  as  usual,  and  the  officers  did 
not  know  what  was  passing  in  the  cabin,  till  summoned  to 
dinner.  Then  they  gathered  about  the  door,  and  watched 
the  closing  scene  with  solemn  reverence.  Now —  thanks  to 
a  merciful  God!  —  his  pains  had  left  him  ;  not  a  momentary 
spasm  disturbed  his  placid  face,  nor  did  the  contraction  of  a 
muscle  denote  the  least  degree  of  suffering ;  the  agony  of 
death  was  passed,  and  his  wearied  spirit  was  turning  to  its 
rest  in  the  bosom  of  the  Saviour.  From  time  to  time,  he 
pressed  the  hand  in  which  his  own  was  resting,  his  clasp 
losing  in  force  at  each  successive  pressure ;  while  his  short- 
ened breath  —  though  there  was  no  struggle,  no  gasping,  as 
if  it  came  and  went  with  difficulty — gradually  grew  softer 
and  fainter,  until  it  died  upon  the  air  —  and  he  was  gone. 
Mr.  llanney  closed  the  eyes,  and  composed  the  passive  limbs; 
the  ship's  officers  stole  softly  from  the  door,  and  the  neglect- 
ed meal  was  left  upon  the  board  untasted. 

"  They  lowered  him  to  his  ocean  grave  without  a  prayer. 
His  freed  spirit  had  soared  above  the  reach  of  earthly  in- 
tercession, and  to  the  foreigners  who  stood  around  it  would 
have  been  a  senseless  form.  And  there  they  left  him  in  his 
unquiet  sepulchre;  but  it  matters  little,  for  we  know  that 
while  the  unconscious  clay  is  '  drifting,  on  the  shifting  cur- 
rents of  the  restless  main,'  nothing  can  disturb  the  hallowed 
rest  of  the  immortal  spirit.  Neither  could  he  have  a  more 
fitting  monument  than  the  blue  waves  which  visit  every 
coast ;  ibr  his  warm  sympathies  went  forth  to  the  ends  of  the 
32 


498  THE    EARNEST    MAN. 

earth,  and  included  the  whole  family  of  man.  It  is  all  as 
God  would  have  it,  and  our  duty  is  but  to  bend  meekly  to 
his  will,  and  wait,  in  faith  and  patience,  till  we  also  shall  be 
summoned  home." 

Thus  lived,  and  thus  died,  an  Earnest  Maa. 


'**v  ■ 


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PHILO,  AN  EYANGELIAD, 

By  Rev.  Sylvester  Judd,  Jr. ;  (author  of  "  Margaret.")    In  one 
volume,  12mo.    Price,  in  muslin,  75  cents. 


PHILLIPS,  SAMPSON,  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

THE  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  JAMES  MONTGOMERY, 

With  a  Memoir,  by  Rev.  Rufus  "YV.  Griswold.  In  one  volume, 
octavo,  with  Portrait  and  illustrations.  Price,  in  muslin,  $2.50  ; 
library  style,  $3  ;  muslin,  gilt,  $4  ;  morocco,  $4.50. 
Same  edition,  printed  upon  fine  calendered  paper.  Price,  in  black 
muslin,  $3 ;  in  half  turkey,  or  half  calf,  gilt  or  antique,  $5 ; 
in  full  turkey,  antique  or  gilt,  $6. 

IIE  SELECT  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  MONTGOMERY, 

In  one  volume,  12mo.,  with  portrait.     Price,  in  muslin,  $1 ; 
gilt,  $1.50;  morocco,  $2. 


fitnotrn. 

THE  COMPLETE  WORKS  OF  LETITIA  E.  LAJfDON, 

In  one  volume,  royal  octavo,  with  Portrait.     Price,  in  muslin, 

$2.50 ;  library  style,  $3 ;   muslin,  gilt,  $4 ;    morocco,  $4.50. 
Same  edition  printed  upon  fine  calendered  paper.     Price,  in  black 

muslin,  $3 ;  in  half  turkey,  or  half  calf,  gilt  or  antique,  $5 ; 

in  full  turkey,  antique  or  gilt,  $6. 
For  12mo.  edition,  see  "  Howrrr." 


THE  COMPLETE  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  THOMAS  CAMPBELL. 

"With  an  original  Memoir,  and  Notes,  and  a  splendid  Portrait 

Edited  by  Epes  Sargent,  Esq.     In  one  volume,  12mo.     Price, 

in  muslin,  $1 ;   hall*  calf,  $2.25 ;    calf,  $4 ;    turkey,  antique, 

$4. 

"  What  a  delicious  book  is  this  new  edition  of  Campbell,  with  its  ample  memoir, 
its  full-length  portraits  of  the  poet,  and  the  familiar  poems,  as  finished,  and  as 
precious,  and  as  everlasting  as  pearls  I  Mr.  Sargent  has  executed  his  pious  task 
with  such  filial  care  and  completeness  as  to  have  linked  his  name  imperishably 
with  that  poet."  —  Home  Journal. 

"  No  library  can  be  deemed  a  library  without  a  copy  of  Campbell.  He  is  the 
first  poet  who  ought  to  bo  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  young."  —  Post. 

"We  cannot  hesitate  to  pronounce  it  the  most  perfect  edition  extant." — Trav- 
eller. 

"There  cannot  well  be  a  more  attractive  volume  in  typographical  appearance  ■ 
—  Transcript. 

« It  will  become  the  favorite  edition."  —  Worcester  Palladium 


PHILLIPS,  SAMPSON,  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATION? 


"  By  far  the  best  edition  ever  published  in  this  country."  —  Arthur's  Home  Go 
zette. 

"  Clean  white  paper  and  large  type  add  a  lustre  to  the  verse  which  has  charmed 
more  than  two  generations."  —  Moc/iester  Democrat. 

THE  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  THOMAS  CAMPBELL, 

In  one  volume,  12mo.,  -with.  Portrait.     Price,  in  muslin,  $1 ; 
gilt,  $1.50  ;  morocco,  $2. 


TIIE  COMPLETE  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  SAMUEL  ROGERS, 

In  one  volume,  12mo.,  with  Portrait,  and  an  original  Memoir. 
Edited  by  Epes  Sargent,  Esq.  Uniform  in  elegance  of  typog- 
raphy,  &c,  with  Sargent's  Campbell.  Price,  in  muslin,  $1 ; 
half  calf,  $2.25  ;  full  calf,  $4 ;  turkey,  antique,  $4. 


tfflllins,  inn,  mh  ^Iismitft. 

POETICAL  WORKS  OF  COLLINS,  GRAY,  AND  GOLDSMITH, 

In  one  volume,  12mo.,  with  Memoir,  Notes,  and  Portraits 
Edited  by  Epes  Sargent,  Esq.  Uniform  with  Campbell  and 
Kogers,  by  the  same  editor.  Price,  in  muslin,  $1 ;  half  calf, 
$2.25  ;  full  calf,  $4  ;  turkey,  antique,  $4. 


THE  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  THOMAS  HOOD,  2  Vols. 

With  Portrait,  and  an  original  Memoir.  Edited  by  Epes  Sar- 
gent, Esq.  Uniform  with  Campbell,  Rogers,  and  Collins,  Gray 
and  Goldsmith,  by  the  same  editor.  Price,  in  muslin,  $2  ; 
half  calf,  $4.50 ;  full  calf,  $8  ;  turkey,  antique,  $8. 


THE  POEMS  OF  PERCY  BYSSHE  SHELLEY, 

Eirst  American  Edition,  with  a  biographical  and  critical  Me- 
moir. In  one  volume,  12mo.  Price,  in  muslin,  $1 ;  gilt, 
$1.50 ;  morocco,  $2. 


PHILLIPS,  SAMPSON,  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

THE  POETICAL  WORKS  OP  HENRY  KIRKE  WniTE, 

"With  a  Memoir,  by  Robert  Southey,  LL.  D.,  and  an  Introduc* 
tion  by  Rev.  John  Todd.  In  one  volume,  12mo.  Price,  in 
muslin,  $1 ;  half  calf,  $2.25  ;  full  calf,  $4  ;  turkey,  antique, 
$4. 

POETICAL    WORKS,    MEMOIR,  AND  REMAINS  OF  HENRY 
KIRKE  WHITE, 

In  one  volume,  12mo.  Price,  in  muslin,  $1 ;  gilt,  $150;  mo- 
rocco, $2. 

THE  POEMS,  PLAYS,  AND  ESSAYS  OF  OLIVER  GOLDSMITH, 

"With  Portrait,  and  an  Introductory  Essay,  by  H.  T.  Tucker- 
man,  Esq.  In  one  volume,  12mo.  Price,  in  muslin,  $1 ;  half 
calf,  $2.25  ;  full  calf,  $4 ;  turkey,  antique,  $4. 

GOLDSMITH'S  POEMS  AND  PLAYS, 

In  one  volume,  12mo.     Price,  in  muslin,  $1 ;  gilt,  $1.50 ;  mo- 
rocco, $2. 
Further  see  "  Collins,  Ghat,  and  Goldsmith." 


THE  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  REV.  GEORGE  CRABBE, 

With  a  Portrait,  and  a  Memoir  by  Allan  Cunningham.    In  one 
volume,  12mo.     Price,  in  muslin,  $1 ;  gilt,  $1.50 ;  morocco,  $2. 


THE  POETICAL  AND  DRAMATIC  WORKS  OF  SAMUEL  TAYLOR 
COLERIDGE, 

In  one  volume,  12mo.    Price,  in  muslin,  $1 ;  gilt,  $1.50  ;  mo- 
rocco, $2. 


PHILLIPS,   SAMPSON,   &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

THE  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  COLLINS,  CRAY,  AND  BEATTIE, 

In  one  volume,  12mo.    Price,  in  muslin,  $1 ;  gilt,  $1.50 ;  mo- 
rocco, $2. 

$ifcftf*iu 

POETICAL  REMAINS  OF  LUCRETIA  MARIA  DAVIDSON, 

"With  a  Biography  by  Miss  C.  M.  Sedgwick  ;  and  Biography  and 

POETICAL  REMAINS  OF  MARGARET  MILLER  DAVIDSON, 

By  Washington  Irving.      In   one  volume,   12mo.     Price,  in 
muslin,  $1 ;  gilt,  $1.50 ;  morocco,  $2. 


filriit,  foil,  tuvbn. 

TnE   POETICAL  WORKS   OF  MARY  HOWITT,  ELIZA  COOK, 
AND  L.  E.  LANDON, 

In  one  volume,  12mo.    Price,  in  cloth,  $1 ;  gilt,  $1.50 ;  mo- 
rocco, $2. 

THE  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  AIEXANDER  POPE, 

"With  Memoir  and  Portrait.     In  one  volume,  12mo.    Price,  in 
muslin,  $1 ;  gilt,  $1.50  ;  morocco,  $2. 


THE  POEMS  OF  OSSIAN, 

Translated  by  James  McPherson,  Esq. ;  with  a  preliminary 
Discourse  on  the  Era  of  Ossian.  Illustrated  with  ten  fine  en- 
gravings on  steel.  In  one  volume,  12mo.  Price,  in  muslin, 
$1;  gut,  $1.50;  morocco,  $2.  , 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


MAR  31  1948 
REC'D 

OV   5 '65 -2  PM 

LOAN  DEPT. 


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